AN OFFICIAL of the Philippine National Police (PNP) has emphasized the need to come out with harmonized data to help the public appreciate that the government is actually winning war against illegal drugs.
“Having harmonized data both encourage support from the people and make them understand and be convinced that we are on the right path in the campaign against illegal drugs, that we are actually winning the war on drugs,” Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, deputy chief for operations of the PNP, said during last week’s Workshop on the Harmonization of Illegal Drugs data at Camp Crame in Quezon City.
Eleazar, also concurrent chairman of the Oversight Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs, said the PNP has started crafting protocols with other agencies particularly the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to consolidate the figures they have to avoid confusion and misinterpretation.
"Sometimes, we are being criticized by some sectors in the society because we are not coordinated,” he said. “So we should work together to come up with a harmonized data so that the public would fully understand what we have been achieving and the impacts of these achievements in terms of peace and order situation in the country.”
He emphasized the need to harmonize data on how many drugs personalities have surrendered, arrested and killed, and the targets of joint future operations by the PNP and PDEA.
“These are very relevant information that needs to be cascaded to the public so that they would be able to appreciate what we have been doing to the point of risking the lives of both the PNP and PDEA personnel,” Eleazar said.
He said strong support system is also necessary to assure the success of PNP chief, Gen. Archie Gamboa’s decision to shift the operations to run after high-value targets on illegal drugs.
Eleazar, former chief of the National Capital Region Police Office, said the campaign against illegal drugs has actually reduced the crime incidents in the country by more than 60 percent in the past three years.
Having harmonized data, he said, will also encourage other government agencies to help in the war against illegal drugs. (By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan)
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