Police’s Anti-Illegal Drugs Campaign Cuts Narcotics Supply by 70%, Says PNP Chief

The police’s ongoing crackdown on illegal drugs has drastically impacted on the supply of illegal narcotics in the country reducing it by as much as 70 percent, PNP Chief Dir. Gen. Ronald Dela Rosa said on Wednesday.

“We have numbers. We have set numbers. Meron tayong oversight committee na nagmomonitor nito sa performance. Yung aking Director for Operations, sila nagseset ng numbers,” Dela Rosa said in an interview in Lipa City on Wednesday.

On the demand side, Dela Rosa said the reduction is even drastic due to large number of drug addicts and pushers who turned themselves in to authorities.

A lot of them promised to stop using drugs and go into rehabilitation although there is limited number of rehabilitation centers in the country, he told reporters.

Dela Rosa said this is a proof of the success of the government’s campaign against illegal drugs, disproving the theory that a war on drugs is unwinnable, as stated in open letter of The Global Commission on Drug Policy addressed to President Rodrigo Duterte.

In light of this, Dela Rosa challenged foreign critics of the Duterte administration’s campaign against illegal drugs to come to the Philippines so they can personally ask ordinary Filipinos about the positive effects of the government campaign.

Dela Rosa expressed dismay that inspite of the sacrifices of policemen who risk their lives to keep communities safe, some groups apparently want to discourage them by saying the war on drugs is not winnable.

Despite the criticisms however, Dela Rosa believes that the police will be successful in the end because of the continuing public support.

“Nakikita naman kasi natin na ang taong bayan is behind us. Iilan lang itong nagkri-criticize pero most of the people are behind us. I’ve been travelling around the Philippines and I can feel the public approval of what we are doing. So we will continue,” he said. (PNA) FPV/ASS/EBP