As much as possible, the Philippine National Police (PNP) would want a more organized anti-illegal drug operations with the official return of the intensified war on drugs on Monday. However, no less than the country's top cop admitted he cannot promise it would be bloodless.

PNP director general Ronald dela Rosa / Manila Bulletin file photo

PNP Director General Ronald dela Rosa said he was elated that the return of the PNP's war on drugs coincided with their 27th founding anniversary, adding he has high hopes the rejuvenated Oplan Tokhang, now being implemented with new rules and guidelines, will be less bloody.

"The PNP reassumes the crucial role in the government’s anti-drug campaign in support of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA). Project Double Barrel, with all the notable accomplishments under its name, is back in business, including the Oplan Tokhang operations," Dela Rosa, citing the Presidential Memorandum Order No. 17, announced in a press briefing at the Camp Crame.

However, he maintained that the result of the operations are often dependent on the reaction of their target drug personalities, so if it turned out bloody then the suspects must have 'resisted' -- a thing which is already beyond their control.

"Alam niyo naman na 'iyang dugo na 'yan, dependent sa action ng mga drug personalities. Kung pwede lang natin susian yung mga utak ng mga drug personalities na 'Please, huwag sana kayo maging violent. Huwag sana kayo lumaban para walang dugo na dumanak sa aming anti-drug operations,' eh maganda sana pero very volatile ang situation sa ground (The bloody are dependent on the actions of the drug personalities. If we can just control the mind of the drug personalities and say 'Please, don't be violent. Do not resist so that no blood will be spilled in our anti-drug operations,' that would be good but the situation on the ground is very volatile)," he said.

"That's why I cannot give you 100 percent or a fool-proof na anti-drug campaign na maging bloodless. I cannot give you. Bigyan niyo ako ng kuwan, kung sino mang commander na pwedeng gawin iyan na walang mangyaring mamamatay (Give me a commander who can do that where nobody will die) and I'm willing to give up my post. That's impossible," he added.

With the issuance of the new supplemental guidelines and policies, Dela Rosa, however, vowed they would try to at least prevent rogue cops from using the anti-illegal drug operations, especially Oplan Tokhang, for their own benefit.

He admitted that the lack of strict supervision by the unit commanders was the major mistake during the previous anti-illegal drug operations.

"Nagkukulang yung unit commanders sa pag-supervise kaya may mga rogue policemen na kumakatok, ginagamit yung Oplan Tokhang for their extortion activities (The unit commanders had failed to supervise so there were rogue policemen who conducted Tokhang for their extortion activities," he stated.

"But now, we can expect consistency dahil ito sa ating pinapairal na command responsibility. Close supervision at all levels of command iyon ang ating ipapairal. Strict sanctions will follow," he assured.

Under the supplemental guidelines, a one-strike policy will be implemented which means that a precinct commander will be relieved if any member of his/her Tokhang team would fail to follow the rules.

Likewise, a chief of police, provincial director, and regional director would be relieved if two of their precinct commanders, chief of police and provincial or city directors, respectively, would fail to comply with the guidelines.

Even though there is no 100 percent guarantee the Oplan Tokhang will not be bloody, Dela Rosa said they will do everything they can to avoid engaging hostile drug suspects, even if it means 'snubbing' them.

"Kapag kinatok at ang sabihin sa amin 'Hindi ako lalabas, ayaw ko kayo kausapin,' eh 'di dedmahin namin siya. Ayaw mo sa amin, eh 'di alis na kami. Kami naman kumakatok lang. Oh sige ayaw ka rin namin kausapin. Bye bye, next house please (If we knock and the target says 'I won't go out, I don't want to talk to you' then we snub them. We are just here to knock. We also do not want to talk to you. Bye bye, next house please," he said, drawing laughter from the media.

However, this is not a guarantee the drug suspect will no longer be subjected to investigation. Dela Rosa said the names of the drug suspects who will refuse help from the government will be forwarded to the PNP's Directorate for Intelligence for monitoring.

"If we validate that you are still into illegal drugs, then we will now conduct an operation, buy bust or search warrant or.. we conduct an operation to stop you from doing illegal activities," he said.

"But if kapag sa case buildup lumabas na negative, hindi na talaga nagbebenta, bakit pa kami gagawa ng operation? Salamat at hindi ka na pala nagbebenta. Natakot lang pala kaya kailangan talaga ng validation (If in the case buildup it turns out negative, you are already not selling , then why would we still conduct an operation? It's good that you are already not selling drugs. He could only have been scared, so validation is really important," he added.

The key to the success of the relaunched Oplan Tokhang, according to Dela Rosa, is the cooperation of drug personalities with the authorities.

"We are doing this for the good of everyone, to address the drug problem in the Philippines. If we have complete control of the situation, sana walang problema sa drugs ngayon. Eh hindi nga natin makontrol kaya may drug problem tayo and now we are trying to address this problem (we should not have problems on illegal drugs. The thing is we cannot control it that's why we have a drug problem)," he explained.