CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Police offices nationwide are not being required to fulfill quotas but are instead constantly “pressured” to make accomplishments in the government’s anti-drug campaign, the country’s top cop said here Friday.
Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Oscar Albayalde said there was no order from President Rodrigo Duterte for police units on the ground regarding a quota, although police units are always reminded to “clear” their areas of responsibilities of drug personalities.
“In fairness to (Duterte), he did not say anything about any quota. Never since day one that the (Duterte) administration (has demanded a quota),” Albayalde said, referring to the number of drug-related arrests a police unit can make in a certain period of time.
Albayalde was the guest of honor of Police Regional Office 10’s (Northern Mindanao) celebration of the 117th Police Service Anniversary and the regional launch of the “Clean Rider” program, which aims to counter the criminal activities of motorcycle-riding gunmen.
During the “Clean Rider” launch, about 500 bikers from all over Northern Mindanao were given “Clean Rider” stickers to signify their support for the PNP’s anti-crime campaign.
Albayalde assured that the stickers are tamper-proof and laden with security features so they could not be used illegally.
He added that since the “Clean Rider” program was launched in July, crimes committed by motorcycle-riding suspects have gone down from an average of 30 to 50 in a week to 20 to 25 a week across the country.
Meanwhile, PRO-10 Director Timoteo Pacleb has reported that a total of 23.7 kg. of “shabu” (crystal meth) and 4.5 kg. of marijuana — with an estimated value of PHP155 million, based on Dangerous Drugs Board standards — were confiscated while more than 3,000 drug personalities were arrested during the one-year period in July.
Pacleb noted that the crime volume in the region has gone down 30 percent, with a 44-percent decrease in index crimes and a 22-percent decrease in non-index crimes, placing PRO-10 in the top two spot and besting all other regions nationwide.
He attributed the drop in crime volume, particularly index crimes, to the effects of the declaration of martial law in Mindanao, the anti-illegal drug campaign, and the implementation of the “Enhanced Managing Police Operations” strategy.
The regional director also announced the upgrade of police facilities and equipment from June last year to August this year, including the distribution of 61 “high-capacity” vehicles, and two fiberglass boats and a rubber boat to be used for search and rescue and disaster relief operations.
“The increase in logistics capability, particularly in mobility assets, provided to our units and personnel with mission-essential will enable them to perform their mandated functions at the optimum level,” Pacleb said. (Jigger Jerusalem/PNA)
