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[av_heading heading=’ 204 W. Visayas drug personalities yield ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY RUBY P. SILUBRICO
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ILOILO City – A total of 204 drug personalities across Western Visayas have surrendered since the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) launched “Tokhang Reboot” on Aug. 15, data showed.
From Aug 15 to Sept. 19, the PRO-6 reported a 423 percent increase in the number of surrenderers.
“Tokhang Reboot” is a supplemental plan to reinforce the terms and provisions of the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) antidrug campaign Oplan Double Barrel.
From March to August prior to the “Tokhang Reboot” launching, an average of only 39 drug personalities surrendered each month, said Superintendent Gilbert Gorero, PRO-6 spokesperson.
“We expect the number of drug surrenderers to further increase. They can avail themselves of our camp-based recovery program to become better persons,” he added.
A total of 1,915 drug personalities have been arrested in Western Visayas since July last year after the launching of Oplan Double Barrel. However, PNP Director General Ronald Dela Rosa was not impressed. He urged Chief Superintendent Cesar Hawthorne Binag, regional police director, to do more.
To identify more drug personalities, Binag ordered his police chiefs to make available drop boxed in every police station where the public can slip notes identifying suspects.
The Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) managed to gather 600 names from these drop boxes, said Gorero.
He, however, stressed the IPPO was vetting all these names.
Tokhang Reboot sets calculated measures in the conduct of antidrug operations and aims also to earn for the police the public’s trust and confidence.
It has six phases. These are the following:
- collection and validation of information – The collection of information expands to houses, jails, workplaces, schools and other places where drug trade may thrive.
- coordination – covers concerned government agencies and the private sector
- house visitation – shall be done jointly or individually by representatives from the PNP, Department of Interior and Local Government, local antidrug council, church, private sector (youth, business, etc.)
- processing and documentation – surrenders fill out police forms, take oath to stop illegal drug activities, undergo interview
- monitoring and evaluation – police will monitor drug suspects’ progress; appropriate charges will be filed to those who continue their illegal drug activities
- reintegration – among others, the following must be hurdled: drug testing; drug rehabilitation initiated by the Department of Health; no offense committed during probationary period; moral and spiritual intervention / counseling; training with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority./PN
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