MANILA- Will the relaunched drug war be bloodless?

It would be up to the target suspects of police operations, Philippine National Police spokesperson Senior Supt. Dionardo Carlos said on Friday.

“It is going to be at the hand, at the decision of the suspect to be arrested. We will never kill anybody that would put the lives…We would never hurt a Filipino,” Carlos said on ANC’s “Headstart.”

However, Carlos said policemen will still continue to “defend” themselves in cases of imminent danger.

“At that instance when the life of the officer and the public is at stake and an imminent danger is set when he (suspect) brings out his weapon then the police is going to defend themselves,” he said.

Carlos said the relaunched drug war will now operate on two levels—“Oplan HVT,” which targets high-value drug suspects and “Oplan Tokhang revisited,” which focuses on people who surrendered during the first part of the campaign.

• READ: PNP launches 'less bloody' drug war

PNP plans to introduce community-based wellness programs for those seeking reform, which includes assessments by health and social workers, counseling sessions and exercise classes with the help of local government units.

PNP hopes that with accountability of operations transferred to town police chiefs, station commanders and precinct heads, the campaign will see less bloodbath.

Carlos said barangay officials and members of the religious sector tapped to join police operations will also undergo background investigation to ensure that they are drug-free.

Complementing Tokhang operations are revamped efforts to arrest high-level drug traffickers, which will be led by the newly organized PNP Drug Enforcement Group (DEG). The group's members, according to PNP chief, Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa,
passed a thorough vetting process to ensure that they have no record of violations.

Lists of drug users will also be revalidated by the PNP to ensure that targets of operations are really drug suspects, according to Carlos.

“We will revalidate the list from the president, what we have, and the DEG will be the one to look,” he said.

INTERNAL CLEANSING

Asked on how the police force plans to address doubts amid issues of corruption and power abuse in the institution, Carlos said internal cleansing efforts are ongoing and maintained that the PNP in general is a “professional” organization under a “transformation program.”

“It’s an ongoing process. From day 1 we were having a 3-pronged campaign: anti-drug, criminality, and corruption which is internal cleansing,” he said.

“The PNP is not represented by Sta. Isabel and Dumlao… They were in the unit and they caused all of this to the PNP, the embarrassment, but it does not represent the majority of the PNP personnel. We’re professional. We’re in a transformation program,” he added, referring to two cops linked to the slay of a South Korean businessman inside Camp Crame, the police headquarters.