Police officers attend the Simultaneous Oath-Taking and Donning of Ranks of 2nd Level Uniformed Personnel (PCpl-PMAJ) under the CY 2022 Regular Promotion program at the Manila Police District headquarters in Manila on January 10, 2023. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News
MANILA — The cleansing in the national police will not affect the revamped drug war under President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said on Tuesday.
Interior Undersecretary Margarita Gutierrez said the courtesy resignations of senior police officials, in fact, complements the administration's anti-narcotics fight called Buhay Ingatan, Droga’y Ayawan (BIDA) program, which aims to clamp down the demand in drugs through communities.
"Hindi siya nakakaapekto... It is aligned with the program of BIDA because we are doing all these holistic approach. We are trying to reduce the demand and also the supply," Gutierrez said in a public briefing.
"Mine-make sure din natin na reducing the supply of drugs, yung ating law enforcement units are also cleared," she said.
A total of 26,244 villages nationwide or around 74 percent of 35,356 drug-affected barangays have been cleared from drug users as of November 2022, the DILG official said.
Drug-free villages are given awards or donations, she said.
"Ine-encourage namin ang mga barangay na ma-incentivize ang kanilang mga constituents. They are free to come up with programs in order to incentivize them," she added.
A five-man advisory group has been formed to sort the courtesy resignation of third level officers — or those with the ranks of colonel up to general — as part of efforts to cleanse the organization from drug trade infiltration.
Interior Chief Benjamin Abalos earlier called for the courtesy resignations after a probe found that a "handful" of police officials were involved in the illegal drug trade.
Video from PTV