DILG: PBBM's abolition of reward system for cops in drug war now yielding positive results
By Chito Chavez
President Marcos has long abolished the illegal reward system for policemen in the conduct of anti-illegal drugs operations, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said on Thursday, July 31.
DILG Secretary Juanito Victor “Jonvic’’ Remulla said such a reform resulted in the significant curtailment of illegal drugs supply and a a successful shift from consumption-based to supply-side anti-drug strategies.
And another important result, he said, is that the Marcos administration’s drug war operates without resorting to killings.
“The drug war is working without killing anyone," Remulla said.
Remulla pointed out the reward scheme incentivized drug enforcers to aggressively pursue anti-drug operations, sometimes to the extent of killing drug suspects and planting evidence to claim cash rewards.
He asserted that in the past, the ploy also allowed the so-called “ninja cops’’ to keep up to 90 percent of confiscated drugs while turning over only 10 percent to the authorities and recycle the rest for resale on the streets.
In dismantling the system, Remulla noted that the President ordered the halt to “bodega” operations to prevent hoarding of illegal drugs and the implementation of no-reward policy.
"Ngayon po may sistema na within so many days may (illegal drugs) destruction kaagad, wala na pong recycling ng drugs ngayon sa Pilipinas. Hindi na tayo nagbobodega, diretso sunog na (Now there is a system in a couple of days there is immediate destruction, there is no recycling of drugs in the Philippines now. We are not storing them anymore, it goes directly to the destruction process),’’ Remulla explained.
The DILG chief stated that the current destruction process of seized drugs is also very thorough and scientific, ensuring that there are no remaining narcotics components and preventing any possibility of recycling.
“Under 700 degrees of heat for 12 hours, ginigiling po talaga yung drugs na ‘yan, tapos it takes another 12 hours to cool down, tapos titingnan yung abo, ite-test yun sa laboratoryo, kung may drug component pa rin siya (Under 700 degrees of heat for 12 hours, the drugs are grounded finely and cooled down for another 12 hours, then the ashes will be examined, will undergo further laboratory testing, to determine if there is still drug component),’’ Remulla said.