Home>Editorial>Opinion>No room for drug-using cops, Sinas assures
Opinion

No room for drug-using cops, Sinas assures

PHILIPPINE National Police chief, General Debold M. Sinas has assured the public that there is no room for drug-using policemen in the country and said those who will be found using illegal substances and involved in other drug-related activities will find themselves facing the full brunt of the law.

Just like what he did when he was still the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) director, the 25th PNP chief wants a continuing random drug testing of his men as part of his efforts to ferret out ‘inept, corrupt and undisciplined’ members of the force.

Sinas became known for summoning officers and men of a particular NCRPO district or unit in a building and ordering his men to close all entrance and exit doors so that all persons inside can be subjected into a drug test.

The practice had resulted in the identification of a number of police uniformed and non-uniformed personnel using shabu and other prohibited drugs.

The PNP chief has also ordered the revitalization of different PNP drug enforcement units in order for them to focus their sights on so-called ‘high-value targets/individuals’ and in the identification and neutralization of the remaining ‘Ninja/Narco-Cops’ as well as their networks.

He also ordered his trusted men to ensure that their DEUs are manned by personnel with no reported or suspected involvement in illegal drugs to ensure their integrity. At the same time, he ordered a strict vetting of all anti-narcotics agents.

“We are further strengthening our disciplinary mechanisms and will penalize erring policemen as we implement a strict ‘No-Take Policy’ on illegal funds from drug lords, gambling lords and other illegal sources of fund,” Sinas said.

He assured the citizenry that any member of the PNP who will be involved in corrupt practices will not be tolerated and will be investigated and dismissed immediately from the force if found guilty.

NCRPO records since January this year showed that a total of 11 NCRPO personnel who tested positive for shabu are now undergoing summary dismissal proceedings.

Once dismissed from the PNP, these policemen will also lose all their retirement benefits and other remunerations apart from facing criminal charges for violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Sinas has ordered his intelligence units and the PNP Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group in investigating all members of the force who will be found using illegal drugs. “I want to identify the fellow drug users of these policemen, Sinas added.

New NCRPO director, soon-to-be Major Gen. Vicente D. Danao Jr. said he will be fully enforcing what Sinas had done against rogues in uniform in Metro Manila.

All NCRPO members who tested positive for substance abuse were ordered disarmed and relieved from their posts by Sinas as they undergo summary dismissal proceedings.

Sinas told the Journal Group that the drug-using cops were stripped of their service firearms, badges and other government-issued properties and transferred to the NCRPO Regional Personnel Holding and Administrative Unit.

The policemen tested positive during an initial screening test and later a confirmatory test. They were ordered subjected to a pre-charge investigation and summary hearing procedures in preparation for their dismissal from the police force.

These erring policemen tested positive for methamphetamine abuse during a surprise drug test and later, in a confirmatory test using the PNP Crime Laboratory’s GCMC machine or Gas Chromatography Spectrometer Equipment, said Sinas, himself a former PNP Crime Lab director.