Law enforcement agencies should always be on the lookout for officers who are involved in criminal activities.
Senator Ronald Dela Rosa, in an interview on Tuesday, said anti-drug units in particular are prone to temptations.
“I am encouraging not only the PNP (Philippine National Police), lahat ng law enforcement agency pati na ang PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency) at NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) kung meron man silang pinagdududahan na kasama nila na gumagawa ng milagro pagdating sa droga (all the law enforcement agencies, as well as PDEA and NBI, if they suspect their colleagues are involved in drugs), I encourage them to embark on a thorough internal cleansing process sa kanilang hanay kung meron (among themselves, if needed),” Dela Rosa said.
The former PNP chief delivered a privilege speech on Monday about the arrest of a PDEA supervisor and two agents in a buy-bust in Taguig City on Dec. 6.
The PDEA personnel yielded 1.35 kilos of shabu worth PHP9.18 million, buy-bust money, four firearms and a digital weighing scale.
Dela Rosa also talked about the involvement of Master Sgt. Rodolfo Mayo Jr., an active member of the PNP Drug Enforcement Group Special Operation Unit, in a drug den that stored some 990 kilograms of shabu worth PHP6.7 billion.
He likewise cited the two cops who were killed in an ambush by members of a syndicate after an anti-illegal drug operation in Pampanga.
Dela Rosa said law enforcers should stay active and vigilant as traitors within their ranks will pounce on opportunities to conduct their illegal activities.
“Hindi po sila tumitigil, kaya ganoon din dapat tayo. Ipagpatuloy natin ang ating mga nasimulan na at gamitin ang mga natutunan mula sa mga karanasang napulot natin mula sa nakaraang administrasyon (They are not stopping and we should not, too. We should continue what we have started and use what we have learned from our experiences from the last administration),” he said, referring to the Duterte administration’s relentless fight against illegal drugs.
The Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, which Dela Rosa chairs, will invite law enforcers during an inquiry next year on the status of their internal cleansing and the government’s anti-illegal drugs campaign. (PNA)