LAOAG CITY -- A total of 13 town police chiefs in the Ilocos region have been sacked for poor performance in the government war against prohibited drugs, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said Friday.
Police Regional Office 1 (Ilocos) Director, Chief Supt. Romulo E. Sapitula, said Friday the 13 police chiefs failed to pass their monthly evaluation rating.
While visiting the different police stations in the region, Sapitula reminded police personnel to perform well and to double their efforts in fighting illegal drugs.
“As head of office, it is your responsibility to improve crime clearance and efficiency in the locality,” he said.
Some of the relieved police chiefs were those assigned in Batac City, Pinili, Nueva Era and Carasi in Ilocos Norte; Candon, Narvacan, Santa, Alilem, Salcedo and Sugpon in Ilocos Sur; Santol and San Gabriel in La Union; and Burgos in La Union.
PRO-1 said the relieved officers have been reassigned as checkpoint supervisors.
Meanwhile, the deputy chiefs of police in the said police stations were automatically appointed as officers-in-charge.
In view of the recent typhoon that caused heavy damage in Pangasinan, the Provincial Police Office was given an additional one week to improve its performance.
“A way to ensure that the organization is working well is to see to it that the heads of units and offices are capable of doing the same,” Sapitula said, pointing out that the PNP has a set of standards to continuously improve the performance of police officers in the region.
“We will not tolerate any act of laxity and incompetence with our mandate,’’ he said.
During his recent State of the Nation Address, President Rodrigo Duterte said that despite criticisms from human rights advocates, the war against illegal drugs is far from over.
Under the Duterte administration, the police reported that more than 102,000 operations were conducted during the first two years of the anti-drugs campaign.
A total of 147,000 drug personalities have been arrested, while PHP14.66 billion worth of illegal drugs have been seized. (PNA)
