ROCKY IGNACIO/PTV4: Magandang umaga Malacañang Press Corps at sa ating mga bisita. Tunay na numero, tunay na pagbabago, tunay na tagumpay – nandito po tayo sa Real Numbers Briefing. Today we have Atty. Asec. Marie Banaag. Good morning.
ASEC. BANAAG: Rocky magandang umaga, and to our friends sa Malacañang Press Corps magandang umaga po.
This morning we have with us Deputy Director Ferdinand Lavin, Spokesperson of the National Bureau of Investigation to updates us on the—give us update on the real numbers data. And of course, Police Senior Superintendent Bong Durana, Jr., the PNP Spokesperson to give us the first data, the most controversial data on the motu proprio investigations of the anti-illegal drugs campaign and the internal cleansing data. Magandang umaga po, sir. We go now to Atty. Lavin.
ATTY. LAVIN: Good morning everyone, friends from the media…
We would like to update you on the status of our anti-illegal drugs operations. The operations is a joint operations, most of these are joint operations by your PDEA, PNP and the NBI and other law enforcement agencies. We have the data from—reference date is July 1, 2016 to July 31, 2018: a total of 105,658 anti-illegal drug operations or an increase of 3,028 anti-illegal drug operations from June 30 to July 31 of this year were conducted by PDEA, PNP, NBI and other law enforcement agencies nationwide which resulted in the arrests of 152,123 drug personalities or an increase of 4,321 drug personalities for the same period; also an increase of 4,410 drug personalities were recorded casualties on the same period; for the same period, June 30 to July 31 there is an increase of 56 recorded casualties.
Summary for the government workers arrested on anti-illegal drug operations as a result of the combined efforts of all the law enforcement agencies against high value targets: a total of 569 government workers including 268 government employees, 243 elected officials and 58 uniformed personnel were arrested for violations of Republic Act 9165. This is in line with the President’s thrust of cleansing the bureaucracy from corrupt public servants.
For the arrested or rescued minors since President Duterte’s administration: a total of 1,258 minors were rescued by authorities nationwide. These minors were turned over to the various local social welfare offices.
For the total shabu seized for the period: 2,755.77 kilos of shabu worth 14.79 billion pesos were seized by PDEA and other law enforcement agencies nationwide, or an increase of 19.04 kilos with a value of 129.48 million for the period June 30 to July 31, 2018.
For the value of the drugs seized: a total of 21.48 billion worth of drugs were seized for the period or an increase of 185.61 million pesos.
We have also cleared barangays in various drug-clearing operations as of July 31, 2018: a total of 8,215 barangays were cleared out of the total number of barangays of 42,044.
Those are the figures from the PDEA and the various law enforcement agencies. Madam…
ASEC. BANAAG: Okay. We also have the drug dens which were dismantled, 221 for the period from July 2016 to July 31, 2018.
Now we move on to again, the most controversial data, for Spokesperson Durana to provide. It’s something that they’ve waited for sir for a long time.
PNP SPOX DURANA: Okay. Good morning members of—our friends and partners from the media.
Just like what, you know, the President said in a lot of terms… while we can be tough on crimes especially illegal drugs, we can also uphold human rights, constitutional rights not only of the accused, but also of our police personnel… of our different various law enforcement personnel.
So as of this date, for the period July 1, 2016 to July 31, 2018… motu proprio, meaning it was based on the initiative of our Internal Affairs Service, they have conducted motu proprio investigation of a total of 3,275 personnel and out of this number, we have so far penalized ‘no, dismissed from the service 59 police personnel; exonerated 778 and dismissed a total of 2,438 cases.
Also as a result of our internal cleansing program in all personnel in various law enforcement agencies of the government, we have dismissed from the service 267 personnel for drug use, and 95 personnel for other drug-related offenses. So this alone will more or less communicate to the public that we do not tolerate misfits and scalawags in our campaign against illegal drugs.
Our war on drugs has its good intentions, we don’t want to it to be marred by irregularities attendant to the police operations of some of our personnel. So we’ll be hard on them, weeding out misfits and scalawags because our war on drugs has its very good intentions. Thank you.
MARICEL HALILI/TV5: Hi sir, good morning. Sir I’m just curious, ano po iyong ginagawa ng authorities once na na-seize na nila iyong mga shabu and anti—iyong mga illegal drugs and other paraphernalia?
ATTY. LAVIN: For the part of the NBI, this is the deposited with our Forensic Chemistry Division since shabu once seized or other narcotics substances once seized are forwarded to our Forensic Chemistry Division for laboratory examination and the court is informed where it is being kept. And normally, the court allows the NBI to take custody of these illegal drugs until such time that the court orders for the transfer of these illegal drugs to PDEA. The PDEA is also informed of the results of investigation by the NBI, until such time also that the court orders for the destruction of these illegal drugs.
MARICEL HALILI/TV5: How do you destruct the drugs, sir?
ATTY. LAVIN: This is with the PDEA, we—I have witnessed two destructions of illegal drugs one in Cavite; we already destroyed the shabu we seized in San Juan, something like 1,300 kilos, and also the more than 500 kilos we seized in Valenzuela.
MARICEL HALILI/TV 5: How do you do that, sir?
ATTY. LAVIN: This is by incinerator. The PDEA has its facilities in various parts of the country for the destruction of these drugs.
MARICEL HALILI/TV 5: But, sir, habang wala pang decision iyong Court on what to do with the seized drugs—do we have enough storage for those seized…?
ATTY. LAVIN: Yes, for the NBI, we have a storage facility for the seized drugs and the seized drugs are regularly being inventoried and inspected by representatives of the accused, the lawyer of the accused; the prosecutors, the representatives of the Court and PDEA of course; and the seizing agency, the NBI. This is closely monitored; in the case of NBI there is a monitoring facility that goes direct to the Office of Atty. Dante Guiran, our Director. Anytime of the day and night, the Director of the NBI can monitor the illegal drugs, the movement in the storage facility.
ROCKY IGNACIO/PTV: Pero si Spox Durana, kasi diyan pumapasok iyong ninja cops di ba?
PNP SPOX DURANA: Yeah, I think the same is true… the same is true actually with the Philippine National Police. Dumadaan iyan sa stringent chain of custody, the moment that the illegal drugs are lifted or taken out after being processed by our Scene of the Crime Operators, it is… the evidence or pieces of evidence are being tagged and turned over to the evidence custodian. Meron po tayong mga evidence room sa mga police stations; pag malaking bulk or it was being processed by—it was processed by the Scene of the Crime Operations, by the Crime Laboratory, tini-turnover iyan sa Crime Laboratory, meron tayong malaking storage doon. If you’ve seen, malaki iyong ating Crime Laboratory Building doon ‘no. And it is always closely monitored and those pieces of evidence, itong mga seized drugs ay pag-aari iyan ng korte, anytime it will be…the court can order its presentation to …during the hearing. And after the case is resolved, ito eh, it depends on the disposition of the court also, whether to destroy it and definitely it will be destroyed, may mga proseso iyan sila, iyong PDEA has the expertise to destroy these seized illegal drugs.
So, ito iyong mga sinasabing mga ninja cops. This again, as you can see, I think they are part of this 267 personnel dismissed from the service for drug-use and these 95 dismissed from the service for other drug-related offenses. Na itong mga ninja cops na ito—of course we are not saying that we have obliterated, neutralized them up to their last man. There are still those who insist in their wicked ways, that is why we are running after them, CITF is hot on their trail, and CITF – our Counter Intelligence Task Force was even, you know, appealing to them to surrender peacefully, otherwise we will put a stop to their illegal activities permanently. So, iyan ang ginagawa po natin.
So, I think—of course, we cannot deny that in the past, we have this problem, but now we have significantly reduced, if not, we will totally eradicate this kind of, you know, illegal activities from within our ranks. That is why, in the Philippine National Police, our war on drugs is coupled with our intensified internal cleansing program. We are actually very aggressive on this, while we can be relentless in our campaign against drug users and drug pushers at the street level. We are also would want to be relentless and chilling in our desire to rid our ranks of misfits and scalawags especially those who are involved in illegal drug operation or those who are using illegal drugs.
JOSEPH MORONG/GMA7: Asec. Banaag, parang kulang tayo ng agency. Nasaan po iyong PDEA?
ASEC. BANAAG: Yeah, they would be around next press briefing. That is why we asked the NBI also to help us out with presscon this time, because they haven’t been with us for more than a year.
JOSEPH MORONG/GMA7: What is your information about the status of Director Aquino?
ASEC. BANAAG: He filed a leave prior to this week for a vacation leave.
JOSEPH MORONG/GMA7: Would you know when he filed it?
ASEC. BANAAG: That, of course, I don’t know.
JOSEPH MORONG/GMA7: This was before the President’s statement in the 6.8…?
ASEC. BANAAG: Yes, way before, because we had a meeting at the NBI two weeks ago and then he already filed a leave for this week.
JOSEPH MORONG/GMA7: Two weeks ago pa?
ASEC. BANAAG: Yes, two weeks ago pa na may meeting kami and he already filed a leave for leave then, na wala siya this week. So, we knew na wala siya this week, so we did not hold the press briefing at the PDEA.
JOSEPH MORONG/GMA7: All right, so hindi naman po siya nag-resign?
ASEC. BANAAG: No.
JOSEPH MORONG/GMA7: That’s categorical?
ASEC. BANAAG: It is categorical.
JOSEPH MORONG/GMA7: Going to your figures PNP and NBI. Iyon pong 4,410 drug personalities who’d died in anti-drug operations, ito po iyong sinasabi natin na mga namatay lang, legitimately, since the drug war started?
PNP SPOX DURANA: As far as we are concerned, any police operation is treated, you know, looked—being treated as being conducted by our personnel in regularity. Meaning, they followed police operational procedures. So it is always, you know, viewed that our police personnel are doing it the right way. But, since—of course, we are also sensitive to the apprehensions of the public. That is why our Internal Affairs Service motu proprio conducted investigation, on their own ‘no or without any complaint. That is why, right now, they—this is actually the result of their investigation.
It’s a continuing process that the Chief of the Philippine National Police specifically instructed and encourage the Director General of—Inspector General of IAS, Internal Affairs Service to make sure that there should be integrity in the way we conduct our police operation, drug police operations against illegal drugs. And we will continue doing that because that’s the marching order of the Chief of the Philippine National Police.
JOSEPH MORONG/GMA7: I was wondering, whether you have data on deaths under investigation, do you have that?
PNP SPOX DURANA: Yes and that precisely, that exactly what you have been mentioning, 4,150 plus now being investigated by the Internal Affairs Service and out of that… actually the result of that 267, something like that, about that number, because this figure also include other government personnel. But as far as we are concerned, we have based on my data here, we have already actually dismissed a total of positive in illegal drugs as of today—as of yesterday dismissed a total of 269 police personnel for being positive in use of illegal drugs and a total of 94 dismissed from the service for being involved in illegal drugs.
So, right now, death under investigation, I think we have… as of yesterday, we have a total of 4,800 plus death due to police operations. And definitely, our Internal Affair Service will continuously motu proprio conduct its own investigation. I think there is one thing that, you know, it’s not being reflected here. On my way here, I looked into the average deaths since the start of our war on drugs, war on drugs of the Duterte administration. During the first, I think three months, there’s an average of 105 deaths.
There’s an average of 105 deaths weekly. So we adjusted our campaign, then it went down to an average of 69, then 39; and since December of last year up to the present, there is now an average of just 23 death per week, on the average per week. So as you can see we are continuously, you know, polishing our war on drugs, re-calibration of war on drugs is more—we are, you know we can be tough on crimes but sometimes you can be humane as well and making sure that human rights and the constitutional rights of those drug dealers or drug pusher are observed. So I think, this figure would tell us that while we can be relentless and chilling as much as possible we also we also would want it to be less bloody.
JOSEPH MORONG/GMA7: Alright sir, so 4,850 deaths under investigation?
PNP SPOKES. DURANA: Since July 1, since July 1 up to the present.
JOSEPH/GMA7: So plus 4,410 drug personalities died, you will roughly have less than 10,000 individuals who were killed in the operations since we started on July?
PNP SPOKES. DURANA: Yes.
JOSEPH/GMA7: Is that—
PNP SPOKES. DURANA: As a result of police operations. But you have only—
JOSEPH/GMA7: Okay, police operations, right?
PNP SPOKES. DURANA: Police operations.
JOSEPH/GMA7: Sir, sa NBI, just one last question. I think the ES has ordered—has asked the DOJ and the NBI to investigate the 6.8—6.4 shabu shipment. Any update?
ATTY. LAVIN: Yes sir, we – the NBI, received a directive from no less than DOJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra and Attorney Dante Gierran, the NBI Director immediately tasked the Task Force Anti-illegal drugs headed by Attorney Jonathan Galicia here, to conduct the investigation. In respect of the investigation being undertaken by the group of Attorney Galicia, we reserved our comments on—.
But rest assured. We rest assured the public that they have already conducted the—they have already started the conduct of the investigation in maybe after here or in a few days they will be dispatching the full Task Force of the NBI including our forensics, in pursuit of the investigation.
JOSEPH/GMA7: The President said that – maybe three days ago – that it’s pure speculation, that’s his quote ‘no, to say that 6.4 billion of drugs were there and it was able to escape; how is it going to affect key investigation of the NBI?
ATTY. LAVIN: We will conduct our investigation independent of the comment of government officials. We rest assured that this is going to be a thorough investigation based on forensic evidence.
JOSEPH/GMA7: Sir, thank you.
ASEC. BANAAG: Rocky, may I clarify kanina. Yes, Joseph, the data given by Spokesperson Durana is up to today, our cut off is July 31. So there are data that were not sent to PDEA. Since PDEA is the repository of all anti-illegal drugs data, then the official data would be whatever data that the PDEA would release.
JOSEPH/GMA7: [off mic.]
ASEC. BANAAG: Ang 4,410 are those—since July 2016 up to June—July 31, 2018, those were the ones which were reported by other enforcement agencies; of course that is from NBI, from BOC, from PNP and the PDEA. So these are data, these—and ang increase ay mga 56 since June 30, between June 30 up to July 31.
ALVIN BALTAZAR/RADYO PILIPINAS: Colonel Durana, good morning.
PSSUPT. DURANA: Yes sir. Oh, Alvin, nice to see you!
ALVIN/RADYO PILIPINAS: Good morning sir. Sir, doon sa mga na-dismiss dahil sa involvement doon sa drugs, ano iyong pinakamataas na ranggo na nakasama doon sa mga—
PSSUPT. DURANA: Superintendent.
ALVIN/RADYO PILIPINAS: So sir hindi kasama dito iyong narco-generals na binanggit dati ni Pangulo?
PSSUPT. DURANA: Hindi kasama dito, as—I think all of us know that wala pa namang—noong—I think there’s one ‘no sa na-dismiss. But I think not necessarily on their direct involvements sa illegal drugs – for some other offense ‘no. I hate to mention the name but I’m not really privy to the investigation.
But I think one thing we should emphasize here and also this is quite connected to our efforts in cleansing our ranks of misfits and scalawags, iyong 65 percent of this personal na na-dismiss and/or penalized have ranks ranging from PO1 to PO3, 65 percent. Sa mga commissioned officers naman, Inspector to Senior Inspector 10 percent. So a total of 75 percent, three-fourths of those involved in illegal or irregular activities are those who have lower ranks. That’s why, you know we asked—actually we are thankful to Senator Lacson and Congressman Acop to—in sponsoring these bills of returning the control of our training institutions to the Philippine National Police.
Right now we have a very anomalous set up; our new recruits, non-commissioned officers and police commissioned officers are being trained by a separate entity. Anomalous in the sense that in some other countries, it’s the police institutions, police agencies that have the responsibility in training their new recruits ‘no. So this alone will validate or reinforce our argument that we need to be responsible and be solely accountable of the product of our training institutions.
ALVIN/RADYO PILIPINAS: Sir, one follow up na lang. Sir, mayroon ba kayong—nag lobby sa Congress na medyo paikliin iyong due process para mabilis iyong pagkaka-dismiss doon sa mga pulis kasi medyo mahaba iyong process bago ma-dismiss ang isang pulis, despite the fact na marami ng ebidensiya. May mga kaso rin na nalilipat lang sa ibang assignment pero nandoon pa rin sa service. Nag lobby ba kayo sa Congress sir?
PNP SPOKES. DURANA: If I may recall it right, since 2005 it was actually the findings of UNDP transforming the PNP into a more capable effective and credible police service ‘no. Mayroon silang, a thorough diagnosis of the Philippine National Police what ills the military and police establishment, kasama iyan ‘no. We have so many disciplinary authorities. And the process is circuitous, so it is still part and parcel of our reform program, the Philippine National Police and I’m sure, there are efforts to lobby, just like this one ‘no, transferring the training. There are a lot of legislative initiatives, advocacy being undertaken by our reform office, iyong center for police strategic management in charge of orchestrating all this reform initiatives of the Philippine National Police.
So since 2005, I’m sure that they are doing that. I used to be part of this reform office. We’ve been doing that, not only addressing some infirmities in our disciplinary system, but also in some other areas, some dysfunction and the legal policy in systemic dysfunction of the Philippine National Police.
JINKY: Sir, hello po, kay Attorney Lavin. Sir, kanina sa—in connection lang sa question ni Joseph. Do you have timeline po for that investigation for the NBI to be able to finish it?
ATTY. LAVIN: We do not have—honestly, we do not have a timeline on this. But they are acting fast as we have to resolve this the soonest possible time. We however assure that it’s going to be a thorough investigation by the NBI, that is why we cannot sacrifice the quality of investigation in the interest of time.
JINKY: Sir, when you say thorough, what do you mean?
ATTY. LAVIN: Everything has to be properly looked into from the arrival of the shipment, including the external factors. Where did the shipment come from? How was it shipped from origin to destination? Up to the point of delivery or where the lifters are presently located.
JINKY: One last… Sir, kanina doon din sa question ni Maricel. Curious lang ako, ilang days po kaya ang tini-take bago mag-decide ang korte na i-destroy iyong mga illegal drugs na nahuli natin?
ATTY. LAVIN: We cannot speak for the courts, it varies. Normally, it’s months to years. We raided the San Juan—we seized the San Juan drugs of 1,300… I think 77 (1,377) kilos in December of 2016. I think it was destroyed only this year… early this year.
NESTOR CORRALES/INQUIRER.NET: This is for Spox Durana or Asec. Banaag. Yesterday marked the first death anniversary of Kian Delos Santos, but only 5 police officers have been jailed and indicted so far while 4 of their superiors have been cleared of command responsibility; has been promoted to higher positions. So what does this say about President Duterte’s promise to the family that they will be given justice?
PNP SPOX DURANA: Okay. First of all, while, you know, we’d want to make sure that the accused drug suspects should be given due process; we should also give due process to the ones running after the criminals. So that’s precisely what we’ve done in the case of those implicated in the Kian Delos Santos case. So based on a thorough investigation of our disciplinary apparatus, they found out that these officers were not in any way involved ‘no or you cannot ascribe command responsibility.
But we are—and I think the court found the probable cause and they were charged, these three who were directly involved in the killing of Kian Delos Santos. And we are not, you know, treating our personnel with kid gloves; in fact other than their criminal cases, there’s an automatic administrative cases being filed against these police personnel.
So again, while we can give due process to the drug suspects, it is also probably right that we should also give due process to our—the ones running after the criminals. Thank you.
CELERINA MONTE/MANILA SHIMBUN: Good morning. Ma’am, I just want to clarify iyong figure kanina kay Joseph. So iyong 4,410… is that on top of the 4,850 that sir mentioned?
ASEC. BANAAG: No, that’s not on top of it. The data, the 4,410 is ang cutoff niyan is hanggang July 31. Iyong 4,810, I think… Spokesperson will clarify that.
PNP SPOX DURANA: This is a raw data, raw data from the Philippine National Police as of 15 August 2018.
CELERINA MONTE/MANILA SHIMBUN: Ah, okay. So kasama iyong 4,410 doon?
PNP SPOX DURANA: Oo. Yes, kasama doon.
CELERINA MONTE/MANILA SHIMBUN: So that means po na kung 4,410 iyong namatay for the past two years, we have a daily, like na namamatay ay anim na tao more or less. So what can you say about that, na mayroong anim na tao na namamatay daily?
PNP SPOX DURANA: Sabi ko nga these are raw data nga ‘yan, I’m sorry to mention that…
CELERINA MONTE/MANILA SHIMBUN: So iyong 4,410, that’s not a raw data anymore? Yeah, official fig—
PNP SPOX DURANA: Yeah, yeah. So 4,410 – that’s the figure from July 1, 2016 up to the present.
CELERINA MONTE/MANILA SHIMBUN: Yes, sir. So, around roughly 6 persons po iyong namamatay daily since—for the past two years because of this war on drugs. So, what can you say about that?
PNP SPOX DURANA: Probably that’s the way you look at it ‘no. But based on our data ‘no, based on our data since July 1, 2016 – same data—depending on how you will slant the data ‘no. Same data 6 drug suspects per day. And you know drug suspects can be armed, drug-crazed heavily armed. So in as much—as much as possible, we want to be…we want it not to be bloody, but you’re dealing with drug-crazed, highly armed criminals. So you cannot lay down… the law enforcers cannot lay down their lives for these criminals; these criminals who’ve been, you know, denying the Filipino people of their human rights to live in a society free from the scourge of illegal drugs.
We have the duty to protect the society from these criminals, and that would involve some death – not only of the drug suspects but also of our police personnel. As of today, various drug law enforcement agencies have laid down their lives – 87 of them with 200 plus injured in this drug operations.
So just like in internal security operation, we lay down our lives; we—the enemies of the state were killed in the process as well. So this is not heaven, this is the real world that people will die in the process; that we have the authority to protect the rest of the Filipino people from the scourge of illegal drugs. Thank you.
ASEC. BANAAG: And of course if I may add, if we try to consider… that’s why iisang card po ito. Iyong operations na-conduct po ng ating law enforcement agencies, nakikita naman po natin; iyong it’s no joke to implement 105,658 drug operations nationwide. And of course, ilan ang naaresto diyan and ilan ang nag-surrender pati – all—if we look into the whole picture of it, we would try to realize that this is a serious matter and this has been a problem for the longest time.
PNP SPOX DURANA: But again, we are very sensitive and we are actively listening to the suggestions/comments even criticism of some quarters in our campaign against illegal drugs. That’s why just like what I’ve mentioned earlier, from July 1, 2016 to October 25, 2016: died in police operation – 1,798, so that means 105 deaths on the average per week, okay. From October 26, 2016 to January 30, 2017: 861 died in police operations; it went down to 69 deaths on the average per week. In March 1 to October 10, 2017: died in police operation – 1,274; that’s 39 deaths on the average per week.
Now latest, December 5, 2017 to August 13, 2018: 881 – if you divide that in number of weeks during that period, you’ll only have 23 deaths on the average per week. So meaning, we are improving, we are making sure that, you know, we are also are very sensitive—we are one in protecting and upholding human rights and constitutional rights not only of the accused but also of our law enforcers – just like what… ang sinabi ko kanina sa sagot ko sa ating kasamahan.
CELERINA MONTE/MANILA SHIMBUN: Follow up po regarding doon sa seized shabu, na 2,757.77 kilos so far iyong na-seize. How much po iyong volume ng na-destroy na? Ilan pa iyong natitira? And, how are you going to assure the public na hindi sila mare-recycle?
PNP SPOX DURANA: Nakita naman natin, mayroong nag-attempt noon ‘di ba? I think that was several years ago ‘no, iyong member ng PNP Crime Laboratory was involved in the pilferage of drugs. I think that was even before the Duterte administration, we filed the—yeah, he was dismissed from the service ‘no. Kasi you cannot pilfer drugs, lalung-lalo na under the custody of Crime Laboratory – there’s a way for us to monitor and make sure that it is not being, you know, pilfered by those who are, you know, monitoring it… having custody of these evidence in court.
ASEC. BANAAG: And if I may add, thank you for raising this one because this is something that we did not look into because, of course, it’s with the courts. But hopefully, next month, during the press briefing, we’ll get a data so that we can monitor. It would be a different monitoring from other agencies and with the courts, so that we can have an exact number of what we can give, we can provide. So we’ll have this one for next month. Thank you.
JOSEPH MORONG/GMA7: Sir, sa PNP po, si Asec. Banaag; Ma’am, dati kasi nag-release kayo ng data na deaths under inquiry. And you had 22, 983 deaths under inquiry from July 1, 2016 up to at least May 21, 2018, I’m curious, do we have updated data on this?
ASEC. BANAAG: Joseph, I think that was not released in Real Numbers. I think that was released during a press or a seminar or a training at the PNP.
JOSEPH MORONG/GMA7: So we don’t have a data now from Real Numbers?
ASEC. BANAAG: Yes, for Real Numbers, we don’t give out homicides under investigation. We presented that before and this one, it gets mangled with other numbers; it gets confused with other numbers so we chose not to. And you can have the data from PNP-DIDM.
The 22,000, whatever that is, is not directly related to the anti-illegal drugs operations – we should be clear about that. There are those cases within the 22,000 numbers that was released by PNP, but only a portion of that is related to illegal drugs. That is, these are victims; these are addicts, and this is not directly related to the operations – anti-illegal drugs operations.
JOSEPH MORONG/GMA7: Fair enough. So you’re saying the 22,000 mga namatay na tao since July, halimbawa, 2016 under any circumstance?
ASEC. BANAAG: Love triangle, puwedeng personal grudge, iyong riding in tandem – lahat po – kidnapping, nandiyan po lahat.
JOSEPH MORONG/GMA7: Fair enough. PNP and NBI sir, si Peter Lim nasaan na po?
PNP SPOX DURANA: What’s that?
JOSEPH MORONG/GMA7: Si Peter Lim, sir, pinapaaresto—
PNP SPOX DURANA: Peter Lim, yeah, yeah. We have tracker teams, actually running after him. So that’s why we appeal to the public, if ever they have information that would lead to the whereabouts of Peter Lim, we’d be happy to look into it so that—you know, we only have tracker teams. But if we pool our resources, the general public will help us, we can put Peter Lim before the bar of justice.
JOSEPH MORONG/GMA7: Has the NBI officially joined the search?
ATTY. LAVIN: Yes, sir. The Deputy Director for Regional Operation, Attorney Antonio Pagatpat, has already ordered all regional directors and district directors of the NBI to hunt down Peter Lim. And also the Deputy Director for the Metro Manila units, Deputy Director De Guzman, has ordered the operating divisions of the NBI to go after Peter Lim.
JOSEPH MORONG/GMA7: So both the NBI and the PNP ‘no?
ATTY. LAVIN: Yes, sir.
JOSEPH MORONG/GMA7: Sir, nasa loob pa ba? Nasa bansa pa?
PNP SPOX DURANA: So far, wala pa naman kaming information na lumabas siya.
ATTY. LAVIN: Same here.
JOYCE BALANCIO/DZMM: Kay Spokesperson Durana. Hi, sir. Good morning. Sir, in his previous speech, the President said that the police and military are free to take over the government if they find him no longer capable of leading. Sa side ng PNP, do you see any reason for possible coup or joining a military junta?
PNP SPOX DURANA: As far as the Philippine National Police is concerned, I think that’s also made clear by Armed Forces of the Philippines – we will follow what’s written in the Constitution.
JOYCE BALANCIO/DZMM: Basically sir, the police are happy how the President is handling the issues in the country? How the President is leading?
PNP SPOX DURANA: As far as the Philippine National Police is concerned, you know, I think the President was spot-on in concentrating on the war on drugs. In fact, results of the Pulse Asia Survey said that 69% of the Filipinos would consider the war on drugs – efforts of the Duterte administration to rid our country of illegal drugs – is the most important achievement of the Duterte administration. Fifty percent also said that criminalities also won the second top most important achievement of the Duterte administration.
And if you may recall, September 2017, 89% of the Filipinos approved of the government’s campaign against illegal drugs. So he is spot-on on a very issue that matters most to the majority of the Filipino people. So government exists based on the needs and expectation of the Filipino people. And the President was spot-on all along – that’s why he capacitates, he built the capacity of the Philippine National Police in dealing with our campaign against illegal drugs and our campaign against criminality – because if you have a very good peace and order in our country, you know, it will create an enabling environment for peace and progress to thrive in this county. And probably later on, this economic progress and development can trickle down to the rest of 90% of the Filipinos.
TINA MENDEZ/PHIL STAR: Good afternoon sir, to Colonel Durana. Sir, in relation to the previous question, sir; so what’s the general sentiment of the PNP right now regarding the President’s statement that he wants to resign out of exasperation and frustration?
PNP SPOX DURANA: I think not only the Philippine National Police, but the rest of the Filipino people should encourage our father. Hindi ba, kung minsan sa pamilya natin napapagod din ang ating mga magulang eh dahil siguro pasaway tayo, masyado. So as our father, as our leader, we have to make sure that we contribute—we should not contribute to his already monumental problems, wika nga – iyan po ang ginagawa ng Philippine National Police. So that’s why kung ano iyong mga prayoridad ng ating Pangulo, iyon ang tinututukan namin and as much as possible, not to give him a lot of headaches.
That’s why his priority war on drugs and internal cleansing of the Philippine National Police, tinutulungan natin. Parang ano, tayo ay lalawig, lalayo ang ating lakbayin bilang bansa kung ang—para tayo, we should learn from this migratory bird, the Geese. Nariyan, kapag nag-travel sa long distances, nariyan iyong leader sa harap eh. The rest of the flock is cheering, encouraging the leader, etc. I think that’s also holds true to us. We can go long distances in our journey as a nation if we’ll support and, you know, encourage our leader – in this case, our President.
TINA MENDEZ/PHIL STAR: Sir, can we say that the PNP now has the entire, at least, 150,000 strong PNPs still supports the Presidency?
PNP SPOX DURANA: Well, so far nakita … in my 30 plus years in the service, it’s only now that the Philippine National Police as an institution, the leadership is empowered to do their job. Unlike before, there are a lot of political influences. But now, the President has given almost a free hand to the leadership of the Philippine National Police to do their job. In fact, his marching order to the Chief of the Philippine National Police is that ‘do everything what is necessary to accomplish your mandate within the bounds of the law’.
Dati, alam ninyo, ang mga modernization lang namin ‘no, iyong aming capacity enhancement program. We’re only given something like two million in a year – now, almost six million, hindi ba. In my 30 years in the service, we’re just being given lip service by the previous administration – not this time. So this government has taken good, real good care of our uniform services now. That’s why our Chief of the Philippine National Police said to the rest of the Philippine National Police, “now is the time to really take good care of the Filipino people.”
ROCKY: Thank you, Tina. Thank you, Senior Superintendent Durana, Jr.; thank you, Atty. Lavin: Asec. Banaag, maraming salamat po; maraming salamat sa Malacañang Press Corps. Back to our main studio sa Radyo Pilipinas at People’s Television Network.
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Source: PCOO-NIB (News and Information Bureau-Data Processing Center)
