BAGUIO CITY – Four countries have signified their intention to replicate the implementation of the government’s successful Oplan Tokhang or the knock and plead strategy to convince drug personalities in their areas of jurisdiction to yield to authorities and reform.
Chief Inspector Kimberly Molitas, spokesperson of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), said that during the recently concluded International Public Relations Conference which was attended by various stakeholders from different countries, many law enforcers, agency representatives, human rights advocates among others were impressed with the results of the government’s knock and plead strategy in convincing drug suspects to undergo rehabilitation following the report of the Philippine National Police (PNP) that some 1.3 million individuals involved in drugs were able to adhere to the said approach.
“Many of the attendees of the conference were amazed over the gains of our knock and plead campaign that is why they want to visit our country to study how the PNP and other law enforcement agencies were able to successfully implement the program for them to replicate in their respective countries. Many of them were also surprised why the people who were killed in the course of the anti-drug campaign were the ones highlighted in reports in the international scene instead of the results of the government’s anti-drug campaign,” Molitas stressed.
The NCRPO spokesperson claimed among the delegates who insinuated their plans to replicate the Oplan Tokhang in their countries include those from Columbia, Mexico, Dominican Republic and Indonesia.
According to her, there is no such thing as extra-judicial killing in the strict sense of the word because based on the pertinent provisions of the Revised Penal Code the deaths could be classified as either murder or homicide, which have corresponding penalties under the law.
Molitas underscored it is unfortunate that there are some sectors of society who try to project a bad image of the country in the international scene when there are other governments who appreciate the implementation of the government’s knock and plead anti-drug campaign after being presented with the figures and the gains of the strategy for over a year of implementation.
The police official claimed the International Public Relations Conference is an international forum attended by representatives of both the government and private sectors from different countries who want to be aware of the prevailing situation in various parts of the world where the Philippine government was able to send its representatives from the concerned law enforcement agencies.
She explained the PNP will continue to support the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in the aggressive implementation of the government’s anti-drug campaign to curb the proliferation of prohibited drugs in the country after President Rodrigo R. Duterte ordered the PNP to take a back seat and for PDEA to take the lead role in the sustained efforts to curb the proliferation of illegal drugs around the country.
She called on the public to continue supporting PDEA in the drug campaign by providing the anti-narcotics agents with vital information leading to the arrest of drug suspects and to put an end to the lucrative drug trade.
By Dexter A. See
