FOUR-PRONGED PREEMPTIVE STRIKE. NCRPO chief Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar on Thursday (Oct. 3, 2019) says he will implement a four-pronged preemptive strike against rogue police officers. This comes in the light of the issue of 'ninja cops' or police officers involved in the reselling of illegal drugs seized in various operations. (File photo)
MANILA -- The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) on Thursday said it will implement a 'four-pronged preemptive strike', against police officers allegedly involved in the reselling of seized illegal drugs in Metro Manila, as part of the relentless internal cleansing among ranks.
NCRPO chief, Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, said the first of the four preemptive strikes to be implemented entails the coordination of all concerned government agencies to obtain a list of dismissed and AWOL (Absent Without Official Leave) police officers who are applying for reinstatement.
“Those involved in illegal drugs before should not be given a second chance to enter the police service. They are a disgrace to our organization. That is why we want to initiate a move to bar them from being reinstated,” Eleazar told reporters.
On the second preemptive strike, Eleazar tasked the NCRPO-Regional Investigation and Detective Management (DIDM) to update the list of all policemen who have been charged before or currently facing drug-related cases.
“Those who were charged with drug-cases that are purely harassment cases have nothing to fear. President Duterte himself gave an assurance that they will get all the help from the government if those cases are purely harassment cases,” Eleazar said, adding that the updated records would be of high-intelligence value in terms of monitoring if they are still connected with illegal drugs syndicates.
“What we are after are those who are really involved in illegal drugs. We will be running after them as part of our effort to finally end the problem of narco-policemen in Metro Manila,” he added.
Eleazar said the third preemptive strike is the implementation of a one-strike policy, which he disseminated to all heads of the Drug Enforcement Units (DEU) in Metro Manila.
The one-strike policy stated that Drug Enforcement Unit heads will immediately be relieved from their posts, as well as the station commander, even if only one of their men would be found to be involved in illegal drug activities.
“I believe that this will compel the DEU heads to always do the right thing because they know that their careers will be at stake,” Eleazar said.
Eleazar said the fourth strike is the "quad-intel force" in Metro Manila composed of various law enforcement agencies to consolidate intelligence efforts against all remaining illegal drug syndicates operating in the region as well those cops involved in illegal drugs.
“Whatever we would miss here at NCRPO in terms of intelligence on policemen involved in illegal drugs will be compensated with the intelligence of the three other law enforcement agencies,” he said.
But he stressed that the formation of the quad-intel force was also aimed at going after erring personnel involved in drugs, not only from NCRPO but also from the PDEA, the NBI and JTF-NCR personnel in Metro Manila.
Eleazar said the move seeks to identify and come up with operational plans against all drug syndicates and personalities who continue to distribute shabu and other illegal drugs in Metro Manila.
"This is a breakthrough and good starting point of a whole-government approach against illegal drugs at least here in Metro Manila. We hope to consolidate all our efforts to work as one and to move as one to deal a big blow to drugs syndicates," Eleazar said.
The quad-intel force is composed of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)-Joint Task Force (JTF), and the NCRPO.
The quad-intel force noted it would have “no compromise and zero tolerance” against those who defy the government in its fight against illegal drugs.
It added that these were “always sidelined by reports of wrongdoings not only by the so-called ‘ninja cops’ but also of what we describe as ‘narcos in uniform’ that include those in other law enforcement agencies”. (PNA)
