Director General Ronald dela Rosa, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), is in Colombia to present the country’s own style in the war against illegal drugs in the past two months.
But Senior Supt. Dionardo Carlos, PNP spokesman, said the visit is also aimed at personally getting the idea and assessment on the successful anti-drugs war launched by Colombia.
“The Chief PNP will present what the Philippines has been doing in the war on drugs,” said Carlos.
Dela Rosa’s presentation, according to Carlos, will go with the Philippines’ anti-terrorism campaign to which the visit of the PNP chief is all about.
The country’s war against drugs, it was recalled, is the subject of criticisms both local and abroad due to the allegations of violation of human rights, with the death of more than 3,000 suspected drug pushers and users from July 1 this year.
Carlos said dela Rosa wants to learn more on the law enforcement strategies implemented by Colombia, which has been continuously battling the threats of illegal drugs.
“Probably we can learn how we can improve our ongoing fight against illegal drugs based on the experience of Colombia or other countries conducting campaign against illegal drugs,” said Carlos.
He, however, said that other countries can also learn from the Philippine experience in the aggressive campaign to finally stamp out the illegal drugs problems in the country.
It was recalled that an Indonesian official was quoted saying that he is interested in adopting the Philippines style in the war against illegal drugs.
Based on the recent PNP data, a total of 1,152 suspected pushers and users died from July 1 up to yesterday morning.
Carlos said that the figure went down from the original more than 1,400 due to the validation conducted by PNP leadership. (AARON RECUENCO)