MANILA — Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. assured the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Monday that he would support it throughout his stay in his post.

"Lahat ng manggugulo sa inyo, wag kayong mag-alala, basta nasa legal lahat, ipagtatanggol ko kayo. Ako ang kakampi n'yo," Abalos said during his speech at the flag-raising ceremony at the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City.

(Don't worry. If there are people bothering you, I will defend you as long as everything is legal. I will be your ally.)

This was Abalos' first official visit as interior secretary. The PNP is an agency attached to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Abalos also enumerated his priorities for the PNP under his watch, including the war on drugs, cybercrime prevention, and police visibility.

He said he and Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla would discuss with police their plans on the war on drugs next week, noting that the chain of custody of evidence is a challenge in the campaign.

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Abalos also told police to keep up with the rapidly moving trend in internet crimes.

"At the end of the day, what is important here is that we minimize crimes, hindi lamang, of course, the drug war. And I would like to put this again, ang drug war natin, maraming nagtatanong, it would be on the basis of our oath as public servants in accordance with the constitution,” Abalos said.

(What is important here is that we minimize crimes, not just the drug war. And I would like to put this again, our drug war, many are asking, it would be on the basis of our oath as public servants in accordance with the constitution.)

Meanwhile, he also issued a stern warning against rogue officers.

"Iyong mga scalawags, lalo na iyong may koneksyon sa drugs, tandaan n'yo yan, patatanggal ko kayong lahat,” he said.

(To the scalawags, especially those with connections to drugs, remember: I will have you kicked out of the force.)

The PNP, on the other hand, expressed support for Abalos' new pronouncements.

“Masaya po kami at kasama sa priority program ng ating bagong SILG iyong to run after mga police scalawags natin at susuporta tayo diyan," said police spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo.

(We are happy that SILG's priority programs include running after police scalawags. We support that.)

She said that as of May 2022, around 5,000 police officers have faced penalties related to various offenses while in the service.

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