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[av_heading heading=’ ‘Bato’ on drug arrests: ‘Dagdagan n’yo pa!’ ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” 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 1,915 drug personalities have been arrested in Western Visayas since July last year after the Philippine National Police launched its Oplan Double Barrel, the Duterte administration’s campaign against illegal drugs.
But the Philippine National Police’s Director General Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa is not impressed.
“Mababa ang drug personalities n’yo na nag-surrender or nahuli. Dagdagan nyo pa,” he told Western Visayas policemen during a program marking the 116th anniversary of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) in Camp Delgado yesterday.
From July 1, 2016 to July 1, 2017, 20,598 drug personalities surrendered to police stations across the region, PRO-6 data showed.
The surrenders were a result of 430,424 house visitations that the police conducted in a bid to convince these drug personalities to change their ways.
“Step up. We have a lot to do. Double-time,” said Dela Rosa.
In the 1,354 antidrug operations of the PRO-6 since July last year, 1,915 drug suspects were arrested and of these, 150 were considered high-value targets.
The operations also resulted to the death of 31 drug suspects. These casualties resisted arrested, according to the PRO-6.
Dela Rosa told Western Visayas policemen not to be afraid of drug lords and criminals. He also urged local officials to help the police.
Suspected drug lord Richard Prevendido must be arrested, he stressed.
Yesterday was the second time he ordered for Prevendido’s arrest. During a visit to Maasin, Iloilo on June 23, he issued the same order to policemen. Dela Rosa, however, did not give the PRO-6 a deadline.
Prevendido was recently spotted in Sitio Solong, Barangay San Juan, Sibalom, Antique.
But while Dela Rosa wanted policemen to be more aggressive in the antidrug campaign, he also reminded them to “do everything within the bounds of the law.”
“Linisin natin ng todo ang Region 6. We must not lower our guard down. What we want is to give every Filipino a peaceful nation no matter what it takes. We vow not to stop the war against illegal drugs until we can finally claim complete victory,” he said.
Nationwide, according to Dela Rosa, 1,309,000 drug personalities already surrendered since July 2016.
He also said 3,264 drug suspects died for putting up a fight with policemen.
In Western Visayas, the latest drug suspect to die was 39-year-old Jelly Talabon of Barangay Tacas, Jaro, Iloilo City. He was shot in Barangay Cabugao Norte, Pavia, Iloilo on Sunday night for resisting arrest.
Talabon was the third drug suspect to die in three days in Western Visayas. On Aug. 11, Hernan Calfoforo, 32, of Barangay Tabuc Suba, Jaro district and Fidel Natabio, 18, of Molo district were shot dead by policemen in an antidrug operation in Barangay Centro Poblacion, Culasi, Antique.
The two were linked to Prevendido.
According to Senior Inspector Marc Dado, Culasi police chief, the suspects were armed with revolvers and shot the police officers out to arrest them./PN
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