WHEN President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. mentioned in his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) that he was ready to accept the voluntary resignation of “unscrupulous law enforcers and others involved in the highly nefarious drug trade,” the statement struck many in the audience as not firm enough. President Bongbong delivered the message in a “requesting” tone, a complete reversal of the hardline braggadocio displayed by his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte.
Little did we know that President Marcos has already accepted the resignation letters of 18 top police officers suspected of involvement in drugs, a decisive presidential action announced a day after the SONA.
The official statement from the Palace is emphatic and terse: “President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced on Tuesday that he has accepted the resignation of eighteen (18) Third-Level Officers of the Philippine National Police (PNP) allegedly involved in illegal drugs activities, upon the recommendation of the National Police Commission Ad Hoc Advisory Group that investigated the matter.”
Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos was more forgiving as he initially promised they will not disclose the names of policemen found by the ad hoc panel as friends or accomplices of drug syndicates. But this gesture allowing the perceived offenders to “retire silently” was clearly countermanded by Malacañang when it released the names of the 18 police officers.
‘The continuing cleansing of the police force goes hand in hand with the new strategy the Marcos administration is trying to adopt in its own campaign against illegal drugs.’
They are Brig. Generals Remus Medina, Randy Peralta and Pablo Labra II, and Colonels Rogarth Campo, Rommel Ochave, Rommel Velasco, Robin Sarmiento, Fernando Ortega, Rex Derilo, Julian Olonan, Rolando Portera, Lawrence Cajipe, Dario Menor, Joel Tampis, Michael David, Igmedio Bernaldez, Rodolfo Albotra Jr. and Marvin Sanchez.
It must be noted it took the panel several weeks to come up with recommendations for the Presidents’ approval of the resignations of the 18 police officers, from among the 953 high-ranking PNP officers who all submitted their courtesy resignations on the prodding of Secretary Abalos.
The continuing cleansing of the police force goes hand in hand with the new strategy the Marcos administration is trying to adopt in its own campaign against illegal drugs.
Marcos said the campaign “has taken on a new face” and “now geared towards community-based treatment, rehabilitation, education, and reintegration, to curb drug dependence among our affected citizenry.”
The President has said before that his government will focus on enforcement of anti-drugs laws, and abuses by enforcers of these laws will not be tolerated. We do not know if this new policy has been effective, but even a cursory monitoring of newspapers and other traditional media will reveal that the drug problem has engulfed the whole nation, not just the National Capital Region. Just in the last two quarters of the year, authorities have arrested scores of suspects and confiscated millions of pesos worth of drugs, and these are only the incidents reported by the police and other law enforcement agencies. It is obvious that Marcos is struggling to cope with the problem of drugs, unlike Duterte who, for all his faults, was able to stem the tide of drug trafficking during his time.
The President, the executive department, Congress and the courts may take the lead in fighting this drug malady, but we still need a strong united front of all Filipinos to ensure victory in this war effort.
