COMMAND VISIT. Brig. Gen. Valeriano de Leon (left), Central Luzon police director, receives a memento from Nueva Ecija police director, Col. Marvin Joe Saro when he visited Nueva Ecija on Monday (Oct. 19, 2020). De Leon urged his men to be more aggressive in their campaign against illegal drugs and criminality. (Photo by Marilyn Galang)
CABANATUAN CITY, Nueva Ecija – The chiefs of police in the province’s 27 towns and five cities were directed "to be more aggressive" in their campaign against illegal drugs and other crimes to complement President Rodrigo Duterte's anti-criminality drive.
Brig. Gen. Valeriano de Leon, Police Regional Office-Central Luzon Director, on Monday, visited the command post in this province and ordered officials "to do more".
"We are running out of time, let us make an aggressive move to work along with our BADACs (Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Councils). Kailangang i-improve natin (We need to improve)," said de Leon.
Failure to perform better may result in the removal from their assigned jurisdiction, he warned.
De Leon expressed disappointment over the supposed dismal anti-drug accomplishment in Region 3 based on data that he himself gathered from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), which showed that only 51 percent of localities in Central Luzon has been drug-cleared.
Chiefs of police, as well as commanders of other units such as provincial mobile field forces, he said, should never stay in the comfort of their air-conditioned rooms and just let a day pass by.
He told them to establish closed coordination with local governments even as he underscored the Duterte administration's strong support to the police's anti-criminality efforts.
"Engage themselves (COPs) to their respective mayors para nang sa ganun makakuha sila ng suporta (so that they could gain support). And inform the mayor if there are barangay officials who are uncooperative," de Leon said.
He expressed hope that mayors and village officials would not turn a blind eye about the drug situation on the ground.
He also underscored the need to step up the campaign against loose firearms.
During his visit, de Leon, along with Nueva Ecija police director, Col. Marvin Joe Saro, led the awarding of medals to several police officials and men who had successfully implemented arrest or neutralization of suspected drug personalities and wanted persons in the province. (PNA)
