BONTOC, Mountain Province – Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director-General Ronald M. dela Rosa underscored there is no conflict in the control and supervision of local officials over the police force in their respective areas of jurisdiction and the supervision and control of PNP officials over their men on the ground.
Dela Rosa, who was given the local name ‘Moling’ or a hard rock, pointed out local officials are their partner in the implementation of the government’s anti-drug, anti-criminality campaigns and peacekeeping initiatives that is why there will be no conflict in the control and supervision of the local police force because their primordial aim is to maintain peace and order in the country.
“The conflict on the local supervision and control of the local police force by local officials only happens when local officials are involved in illegal activities that tend to compromise their efforts in the implementation of the government’s all-out campaign against illegal drugs and other illegal activities. If such problem exists, then the PNP is authorized to remove the supervision and control of local officials over the PNP in their areas but such scenarios are isolated,” dela Rosa stressed.
The PNP chief claimed local officials can invite municipal, provincial, city or regional police officials for clarifications in relation to the discharge of their assigned duties and responsibilities and in relation to the implementation of the government’s priority anti-criminality campaign and peacekeeping initiatives for transparency and for the alignment of local and national programs.
Dela Rosa said the PNP wants the harmonious implementation of national and local initiatives on anti-drug, anti-criminality and peacekeeping initiatives through the cooperation and support of local officials so that the administration’s primary objective of achieving lasting peace in the country will be realized.
According to him, the government’s aggressive anti-drug campaign is geared towards curbing the illegal drug menace that continues to be the major deterrent in the realization of lasting peace in the country that is why the involvement of all sectors in the campaign is being solicited by the law enforcers to help in the campaign.
Dela Rosa asserted what is important for Mountain Province and other provinces in the region that were declared drug-free is for the maintenance of their drug-free status by not allowing the re-entry of individuals who have been identified as drug pushers or users and the use of prohibited drugs in any part of the province so as not to taint its status.
For his part, Gov. Bonifacio Lacwasan, Jr. said those who were pinpointed as drug personalities in the province actually came from outside the province seeking refuge because of the government’s aggressive anti-drug campaign in the different parts of the country.
Lacwasan remains optimistic that the province will remain drug-free because of the harmonious working relationship among the provincial officials, the community residents and the law enforcers who continue to remain vigilant in curbing the proliferation of drugs in their places that is why Mountain Province was able to achieve its drug-free status in just eight months of the government’s aggressive anti-drug campaign.
By Dexter A. See
