By John Rey Saavedra | Philippine News Agency
CEBU CITY – Philippine National Police Chief, Gen. Oscar Albayalde, said Thursday that illegal drugs remain to be a serious problem in Cebu, with anti-drug operations yielding kilograms of shabu amounting to several millions of pesos.
Albayalde said recent operations conducted by different units of Police Regional Office 7 (Central Visayas) show that illegal drugs continue to proliferate in the province.
He, however, clarified that the illegal drugs confiscated by the operatives could have come from the old supplies of drug syndicates operating in the province.
He assured Cebuanos that the police has not let up in running against drug personalities to rid Central Visayas of illegal drugs.
“May improvement naman. Yung recovery natin shows the determination sa ating kapulisan sa PRO-7 (Rhere is improvement. The recovery of drugs shows determination ln the part of PRO-7 operatives) to rid this region of drugs,” Albayalde said on the sidelines of the presentation of the confessed killer of teenager Christine Lee Silawan in Lapu-Lapu City, at the PRO-7 headquarters here.
As of March 28, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 7 figures showed that 50.8 kg. of shabu, worth PHP345.6 million, were confiscated in 283 anti-drug operations conducted in the region over a three-month period.
The PNP chief lamented that heinous crimes are being committed and the perpetrators are confessed drug addicts.
He mentioned the case of Silawan, whose confessed killer told the media here that he was “high on drugs” when he committed the crime.
“Ito yung sinasabi natin (That’s what I’ve been saying) that most of the time, the crimes committed have roots from the use of illegal drugs,” he said.
Meanwhile, Albayalde expressed disapproval of Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s order to Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Royina Garma to refrain from using face masks to conceal their identities during legitimate police operations.
“There are operatives whose identities should be kept for their protection,” he said, clarifying, however, that “not all the operatives wear full mask.”
He said masked operatives are accompanied by uniformed police personnel, in compliance with the constitutional requirement that the person being arrested should know who arrested him and the reason for the arrest.
The PNP chief said Osmeña, being the local chief executive, can issue a memorandum to the local police but complying with it “is another story.”
Albayalde was in Bohol last Wednesday and in Cebu on Thursday for a command conference in preparation for the May 13 elections.
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