PHILIPPINE National Police chief, General Camilo Pancratius P. Cascolan has cited the major role being played by more than 20,000 police advisers across the country as he bared the accomplishments scored by the force in their war on drugs, criminality, terror Cascolan explained that these were the results of the PNP Operational Strategy of Enhanced Managing Police Operations (EMPO) that widened the concept of anti-criminality with regular law enforcement activities through police presence and focused law enforcement operations, crime investigation and solution and security measures through target hardening and border control.
They likewise were the result of social investigation, community partnership, proper deployment of resources; and public affairs through the quad media to promote public awareness and community support, the top cop added.
Cascolan said that from September 2 to last October 1, the PNP mounted more police operations and interventions in the form of preventive patrol operations, checkpoints, and gun check operations.
These efforts led to the arrest of 5,906 persons; seizure of 1,432 loose firearms and a three-fold hike in the number of recovered motor vehicles from 2,099 in August to 9,248 in September.
“The momentum of anti-illegal drugs operations was sustained during the 30-day period, with 4,247 operations conducted that resulted to the arrest of 5,552 drug suspects and confiscation of 45.52 kilograms of crystal meth worth to P309.51 million,” he added.
The PNP chief gave credit to the full support and trust and confidence they are getting from the PNP National Advisory Group and Advisory Council Members across the country who represent different sectors of the community saying these advisers “have been with us through thick and thin and have been continuously helping and supporting us even with the threat of pandemic.”
The top cop has met a number of PNP units and personnel as well as their advisers and different stakeholders not just to inform them of their strategic thrusts but more importantly to get their inputs on how the PNP could further improve the situation on the ground and provide better services.
On his 1st month, Cascolan enumerated the result of the nine PNP strategic thrusts to further improve the situation on the ground and provide better police service to the public.
He said their thrust is to ‘put the PNP house in order’ with the implementation of a comprehensive PNP Master Development Plan for all police camps in order to decongest them, move them closer to the public and provide faster and better service.
Cascolan commended the Police Regional Offices 1,2 and 6 for immediately submitting their respective camp development plans including the required budgetary requirement.
The top cop said their move to further improve crime prevention in the country is bearing fruit with enhanced police visibility down to far-flung barangays in partnership with the communities and their ‘force multipliers.’ So far, the PNP chief said they have established 2,794 Barangay Service Desks and 499 in clustered barangay both with one or more police personnel assigned.
Cascolan said that even during the pandemic, they were relentless in their anti-narcotics campaign leading to the conduct of 4,356 operations which led to the arrest of 5,756 suspects, surrender of 113 and the killing of 57 in gunbattles with undercover officers.
The PNP chief said their campaign against motorcycle and motor vehicle theft likewise resulted to the arrest of 51 known car thieves and the recovery of 42 stolen vehicles. Last month, he said they also accounted for two members of a partisan armed group as well as 185 criminal gang members, 15 of them notorious guns-for-hire.
Cascolan said that in support of the Armed Forces and the Joint National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF- ELCAC), police also accounted for 325 New People’s Army members and 11 local terrorists.
“The recent signing with the AFP of the Joint Letter Directive and Joint Resolution that sets the ‘guidelines in evaluating the effectiveness of Internal Security Operations (ISO) in support of the national thrust to end local communist armed conflict and the declaration of dismantled guerrilla fronts’ provides us an opportunity to take a step back, reassess and determine milestones we have attained and identify areas where we could further improve and make better progress,” he explained.
