Rama Orders CCPO to Gather Evidence Vs 9 Policemen

Mayor Michael Rama has directed Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) acting director Conrad Capa to gather sufficient evidences against the nine policemen who are reportedly protecting some drug personalities so that these unscrupulous police officers can be dismissed from service.

It was Cebu City Councilor Dave Tumulak, a member of the Police Coordinating and Advisory Council (PCAC), who brought up the matter when he visited CCPO last week and he told the media that he received reports about some policemen accused of protecting the activities of some druglords operating in the city.

Rama immediately instructed Senior Superintendent Capa to supervise his men to ensure that they may be able to gather the necessary evidences to support the filing of appropriate charges against the concerned policemen.

Last year, there were also reports that several policemen assigned in Talamban Police Station had been suspected of protecting some illegal drug personalities, particularly those operating in Sitio Dita in Barangay Pulangbato because they failed to conduct operation against these drug peddlers.

Reports from the public that they have observed that some policemen are frequently visiting the houses of suspected druglords in their areas, particularly in Barangays Pasil and Duljo-Fatima, among the barangays in Cebu City that are categorized as seriously-affected by drugs.

Rama said he wants the police to intensify the campaign against illegal drugs to disprove speculations that he befriended some suspected drug personalities in the city.

While the policemen are actively conducting raids against drug personalities, which even resulted to the killing of suspected pushers and claimed the lives of police officers and the confiscation og P13 million-worth of shabu for the period of January and February alone, but the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) did not have major accomplishments.

Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella, chairman of the Police Coordinating and Advisory Council (PCAC), is hoping that PDEA agents will work hard because the campaign against illegal drug personalities is their main task.