Pres. Duterte Awards Individual Police & Units; Gives Php250k

Zamboanga City — President Rodrigo Roa Duterte visited Police Regional Office (PRO) 9 on Monday, in Camp Abendan, Mercedes, this city to what he said was his way of showing camaraderie.

During his visit, he awarded individual police officers and units who showed exemplary efforts in the fight against drugs.

Individual awardees were officers killed in action (KIA)- PO2 Armand Villanueva Jupia; PO2 Arilon L. Lakim ; PO1 Michael Jay Castro and wounded in action PO2 Jeomar Fuertes who was carried in a wheelchair and personally received his award given by Pres. Duterte. Awards for police officers KIA were received either by their surviving spouses or parent.

Unit awardees include men and women of Molave municipal police station, Zamboanga City police station 11, Kabasalan police station, and Ayala police station for having the most number of drug surrenderees; arrest/killed; neutralized high value targets, recovered firearms, illegal drug paraphernalia in police operations during the first three months of project TokHang from July to September 2016.

President Duterte also distributed checks amounting to Php250,000 per unit awardee.

The President during his talk with the officers and personnel of PRO9 said, “I am appalled by so many groups and individuals including priests and bishops complaining about the number of persons killed in the operation against the drug problem. If I will stop here, then the next generation would be lost.”

He said, in an average, he loses 2 policemen a day all over the country and that he takes time to go there not only to condole with the family but also to show his solidarity, as the nation expects that the drug problem in the country can be solved on time.

He encouraged the police forces to continue and be firm in the implementation of Tuktok–Hangyo (Tokhang) as he assured that he would take full responsibility as their commander in chief and even emphasized on the constitutional powers of the President to grant pardon and amnesty.

Reading between the lines, the President assures his police forces of his full support in case they will run in conflict with the law in the implementation of his mandate. (NBE/JPA/PIA9)