NO HARD FEELINGS. NCRPO head, Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar visits the office of PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino at the PDEA headquarters in Quezon City on Thursday (Sept. 19, 2019). During their meeting, Aquino and Eleazar both assured that the two law enforcement agencies are in good terms as they exchanged information on the so-called 'drug queen' and 'ninja cops' involved in drug recycling. (Photo from Director General Aaron Aquino Facebook page)
MANILA -- The Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) both assured that they are in constant coordination in line with President Duterte’s directive and campaign against illegal drugs.
National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) head, Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, on Thursday went personally to PDEA headquarters and talked to Director General Aaron Aquino to work on the identity of an alleged 'drug queen' and the 'ninja cops' involved in the recycling of illegal drugs.
“Galing ako sa opisina ni (I went to the office of PDEA Director) Gen. Aquino. We exchange notes and has assured working together against these ninja cops as they were monitoring policemen through the internal cleansing program,” Eleazar told Philippine News Agency Friday.
He said that chiefs of police are accountable for the actions of their men.
Eleazar bared that cohorts of the drug queen were arrested three times when he was the chief of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD).
Eleazar also pointed out there may still be isolated and limited cases of drug recycling among some members of the Metro police force, but he does not believe these are rampant enough to be tagged as the primary reason for the continuing drug trade in Metro Manila.
“My strategy was to make sure that new, fresh and clean police officers will wage the honest battle against illegal drugs. All told, I gradually relieved close to 500 policemen from our ranks. Some were reassigned to other regions, while others were charged with administrative and criminal complaints for possible dismissal from the ranks,” Eleazar said.
"As a result of this policy, our police personnel in all levels now maintain a keen eye on their “companions for fear of getting penalized and their jobs jeopardized because of possible indiscriminate practices of the man next to him. No policeman now hesitates to come to us if they know of irregularities in their midst, especially on drugs. Every policeman is now alert and vigilant, and fully aware of his surroundings. As a result, the NCRPO has not recorded any drug-related incident involving its active members in the past several months,” he added.
Eleazar urged the participation of the public as it is also a significant factor in curtailing drug-related activities by policemen but added that the NCRPO has earned the trust and respect of the residents in Metro Manila, which is why residents do not hesitate to report scalawags and abusive cops through the police's text hotlines.
For his part, Aquino welcomed Eleazar's gesture.
During their conversation, Aquino revealed that he handed out his information to Eleazar about the existence of ninja cops assigned in Metro Manila and the alleged drug queen.
“We exchanged notes regarding the issue because it was like we were pitted against each other. It's not like that. I gave him the information about the ninja cops and drug queen, Guillor (Eleazar as fondly called by friends) then told me, 'Some of these ninja cops are already dead while some are on AWOL (absent without official leave) status). There are those ninja cops assigned at the MPD (Manila Police District) and QCPD and he assured that he will often visit to fix some issues (if needed),” Aquino told PNA in a phone interview.
“All is well. We do not have any hard feelings against each other,” he said.
Aquino assured that the PDEA and NCRPO will plan to arrest the drug queen and the "ninja cops" involved in the recycling of illegal drugs once they get enough evidence.
On Thursday, PDEA showed to reporters for the first time its evidence room containing PHP22 billion worth of illegal drugs confiscated from anti-narcotics operations.
Biometrics is installed outside the room to control access to the facility. (PNA)
