SunStarPHILIPPINES

First day of Oplan Tokhang bloodless

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THIRD ANNE PERALTA-MALONZO
January 30, 2018

NO DRUG personality was killed during the fist day of the resumption of the Philippine
National Police’s (PNP) anti-illegal drugs operations, the agency reported Tuesday, January 30.

A total of 563 drug personalities who were the subject of 1,430 Oplan Tokhang operations
conducted nationwide surrendered.

The PNP also conducted a total of 36 separate anti-drug operations in 11 regions from 12 a.m.
Monday until 12 a.m. of Tuesday and arrested 52 drug offenders.

Of the 52, 13 were from the Central Visayas, 12 from Central Luzon, 11 in Western Visayas,
five in Northern Mindanao, three in Mimaropa, two each from Southern and Western Mindanao
and Bicol regions and once each in Ilocos and Caraga region.

“Oplan Tokhang persuasive efforts were more active in four regions in Mindanao, Southern
Tagalog and rest of Luzon where 38 drug personalities yielded to police in Metro Manila during
142 separate Tokhang activities,” the PNP said.

In Quezon City alone, tokhangers together with representatives from other concerned
government agencies visited 147 houses of drug personalities which resulted in the surrender of
43 drug users while three refused to surrender and the others were not home.

National Capital Region Police Office Director (NCRPO) director Oscar Albayalde, however,
ensured that the surrenderers will be evaluated to determine the recovery program that they will
have to undergo.

“Hindi naman porke't ikaw ay gumagamit, ikaw ay lulong na lulong na. Depende iyan kung
pwedeng counseling. Kung minsan, may alok na livelihood program. Kung minsan naman yung
skills development ng Tesda para magkaroon ng trabaho later,” he said.

Earlier, PNP chief Ronald dela Rosa said he cannot promise that this time, the PNP’s drug war
will be bloodless but he assured that the PNP will try to make it less bloody.
“Let me assure the Filipino people that the PNP has learned its lessons, and learned it well.
Mistakes of the past will no longer be repeated. We will go out and win this war,” he said.

Meanwhile, human rights group Karapatan said the re-launching especially the revisions made in
the PNP anti-illegal drugs operations guidelines is a clear admission that something is wrong
with its policies.

“The relaunch of the police and Duterte administration’s Oplan Tokhang, after being suspended
twice in 2017, is a tacit admission that there is something fundamentally wrong with these
policies regarding the drug war, and yet here is Duterte and his Philippine National Police (PNP)
again, trying to shove what the Filipino people have already spewed out,” Karapatan secretary
general Cristina Palabay said.

“It is a superficial makeover of a policy that has earned public condemnation,” she added.

Palabay said no matter how specific the guidelines were, the entire campaign is still doomed to
fail due to the “corrupt police force who disrespects human rights and considers themselves
above the law.”

“How many policemen have escaped accountability? How many are emboldened to murder the
poor with a free pass? The poor’s right to due process has been violated over and over again.
Ultimately, this bloody campaign brings us to a dark realization: a still prevalent drug trade, a
fraudulent police force, and thousands of poor Filipinos dead,” she added.

Dela Rosa urged the public to trust the PNP, saying there is nothing to be afraid of as they again
embarked in the government’s drug war.

“Dapat hindi sila matakot. Dapat masaya sila, at least ina-address ‘yung problema nila sa droga
sa kanilang barangay,” he said.

Earlier, he also urged the public to participate in the conduct of the Oplan Tokhang to see for
themselves that the PNP is not hiding anything as well as for the integrity of their operations.

The PNP was twice stripped of its lead role in the government's war on drugs. The first time was
due to the involvement of several anti-illegal drugs operatives in the kidnapping and killing of
Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo inside the police headquarters in Camp Crame while the second
time was due to the implication of several policemen in the killing of teenagers Kian delos
Santos and Carl Angelo Arnaiz. (SunStar Philippines)