The Philippine National Police (PNP) has vowed to free more provinces from the influence of illegal drugs as Aurora and Bataan were declared on Saturday as drug-cleared provinces.
Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, PNP deputy chief for Operations, said the best practices showed by anti-narcotics units and local government officials in Aurora and Bataan will be replicated in order to ensure that more provinces would be freed from the scourge of the illegal drugs.
“The liberation of Aurora and Bataan from illegal drugs is clear proof that we are doing well in this campaign, and that the drug war launched by President Duterte is on the right path,” said Eleazar in his speech during the ceremony in Bataan.
“Under the leadership of our new Chief PNP, General Archie Gamboa, this momentous occasion (celebration of Aurora and Bataan being drug-cleared provinces) will serve as our motivation to continue working in order to free more provinces until we achieve the President’s vision of liberating the entire country from illegal drugs,” he added.
Based on the PNP data, six more provinces are now on the verge of being cleared from illegal drugs.
Out of the 135 barangays of Quirino, 85 of them were already cleared while 111 out of 132 barangays of Biliran were also cleared.
Agusan del Sur has 314 barangays but 215 of them were also cleared while 96 of the 100 barangays of Dinagat islands were also declared from illegal drugs.
Of the 309 barangays of Surigao del Sur, police data disclosed that 288 of them were already cleared while 65 of the 144 barangays of Mt. Province were also cleared.
In his speech, Eleazar said that the positive impacts of the illegal drugs war on the eight provinces only disprove claims by their critics that the government is losing the campaign against illegal drugs.
He stressed that even critics of the drug war are also benefiting from its gain through improved peace and order situation in the country since July 2016.
Citing PNP data, Eleazar disclosed that the number of crime incidents across the country in the first three-and-a-half years of the Duterte administration was reduced by 64 percent using the same period of the last years of the past administration.
“A drug dependent robs and steals to sustain his illegal drugs use. A drug addict would then rape and murder once he gets high on drugs, and a drug addict would influence more people until the community where he lives becomes totally infected by illegal drugs,” said Eleazar.
“Had it not for the drug war, we would have not reduced the crime incidents by 64 percent in the first 3 ½ years of this administration compared with the last 3 ½ years of the last administration because we subscribed to our belief that most of the crime are connected to illegal drugs use,” he added. (Aaron Recuenco)
