Relaunched ‘Oplan Double Barrel’ to comply with laws: Bato

Its reactivation was due to Presidential Memorandum Order No. 17 where the PNP is tasked to support the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in its anti-narcotics campaign. (Photo: Philippine National Police/Facebook)

MANILA— As the Philippine National Police celebrated its 27th founding anniversary Monday, PNP Chief Dir. Gen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa said the law will be strictly followed with the relaunch of “Oplan Double Barrel”.

Its reactivation was due to Presidential Memorandum Order No. 17 where the PNP is tasked to support the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in its anti-narcotics campaign.

“Project Double Barrel, with all the notable accomplishments under its name, is back in business– including the Oplan Tokhang operations that has so far yielded more than 1.3-million drug personalities who chose to voluntarily turn back from a life of drugs to a life of hope,” the PNP chief stressed.

However, he also admitted that the campaign was marred by some oversights and dysfunctions in the systems which the PNP now earnestly wants to correct.

Dela Rosa added that at this time where supplemental operational guidelines now in place, he is confident that anti-drug operations will be less bloody.

“These supplemental guidelines are essentially founded on the fundamental principles of respect for human rights and strict adherence to the rule of law, with greater emphasis on transparency, accountability and command responsibility,” the PNP chief added.

He also stressed thar rule of law always prevail during the conduct of all anti-illegal drug related activities including “tokhang” activities, and respect for human rights shall be strictly observed at all times.

Dela Rosa added that “tokhang” operations shall be intelligence-driven, targeting suspected illegal drug personalities listed by the Directorate for Intelligence.

“I express optimism that this time, police interdiction operations against illegal drugs will be carried out with greater efficiency, and with less violent confrontations between law enforcers and offenders through better equipment to ensure the personal safety of our personnel, such as body armor, body camera, communications and fire suppression, complemented by skills training and enhanced capacity,” he concluded.