BY MARY JOY CAVAÑAS
ILOILO City – The provincial government of Iloilo would purchase sniffing dogs to boost the campaign against illegal drugs.
Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. said there is a need to strengthen security in ports, although not all come via ports because of the province’s long shorelines.
“Guarding the borders against drugs is not that easy. But we will maximize guarding ports and if we can help procure sniffing dogs for our police, we will do it,” he said.
The governor said the province may or may not be a transshipment of illegal drugs, but there are users.
For his part, Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) director Colonel Ronaldo Palomo said they are determined to continue working closely with internal and external stakeholders towards achieving the common goal – a safer, more peaceful, progressive and drug-free Iloilo province.
He assured the Ilonggos that the IPPO will deliver more accomplishments, especially on the anti-drug campaign, as he intends to deploy narcotics canine units on all borders throughout the province.
“We remain committed to the ongoing fight against all forms of criminality, with a focus on illegal drugs. We will continue to adapt and evolve our strategies to sustain our momentum and achieve more operational gains from 2024 onwards,” Palomo said.
IPPO achieved a milestone of operational accomplishments from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2023.
Based on the consolidated report from the IPPO Provincial Operations Management Unit, the aggressive drug campaign resulted in 295 police operations in 2023 – 143.80% higher than the 121 operations in 2022.
Also, 376 drug suspects were arrested and a total of P103,747,229 worth of shabu was confiscated.
Moreover, the intensified campaign against wanted persons last year led to the arrest of 1,444 wanted persons (411 were classified as most wanted and 1,033 were other wanted).
The IPPO’s strict implementation of Oplan Tokhang Kontra Armas Luthang and proactive measures against the proliferation of loose firearms also resulted to 150 police-initiated operations which led to the apprehension of 139 individuals. Confiscated and surrendered loose firearms reached 889. (With a report from the Philippine News Agency)/PN
