By KATE LOUISE B. JAVIER
The beleaguered Caloocan City police vowed to reveal their vibrancy once President Duterte decides to bring back the Philippine National Police to his controversial drug war.
Sr. Supt. Jemar Modequillo, Caloocan police chief, said they are prepared and they will follow any directives from the higher officials.
“We are ready. Our police force is almost complete,” Modequillo said in an interview.
It can be recalled that President Duterte handed over the jurisdiction of the war on drugs to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) due to allegations of human rights violations and extra-judicial killings, particularly the cases of minors who allegedly died at the hands of Caloocan City policemen.
Before that, the whole force of the city police was already relieved and sent to a 30-day retraining by National Capital Region Police Office chief Oscar Albayalde.
Ask if the city police’s drug operations would be “bloody” if ever the lead role will be handed back to the PNP, Modequillo said it depends on the situations.
“There will be no problem as long as drug suspects won’t resist arrest – and if they surrender in the right manner, nothing to worry,” Modequillo explained.
“I also do not want killings. Hindi porke nasa drug watchlist ay death sentence na,” he emphasized.
Modequillo assured that he always reminds his policemen to review their police operational procedures, saying supervision of higher officers is really important.
“I advised them to read it everyday para ma-refresh sila at para hindi na maulit yung mga ‘lapses’ noon na nagresulta sa pagrelieve sa mga tao natin,” Modequillo said.