The National Capital Region Police Office said the stiffest sanctions will be meted against the 177 police officers charged with drug-related offenses.

“This is a major step in our ongoing effort to rid the Philippine National Police, particularly the NCRPO of corrupt and criminal elements. We guarantee that these police officers are held accountable for their actions, dismissed from the service, and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” NCRPO chief Maj. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez said in a statement Wednesday night.

Earlier, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said these 177 officers were charged with planting evidence, unlawful arrest and excessive violence.

“As part of our efforts to strengthen transparency and accountability in the conduct of our operations amid various allegations that have been tagging the police organization in the middle of the government’s intensified anti-illegal drugs campaign, we want to assure our community that the NCRPO is taking all necessary steps to address the involvement of police officers,” Nartatez said.

He added that this is a major step in ongoing efforts to rid the police ranks of corrupt and criminal elements.

“They have betrayed the public trust and undermined the integrity of the PNP. We will not tolerate this type of behavior within the ranks of the PNP,” the NCRPO chief said.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government earlier touted the success of the Marcos administration’s anti-drug campaign, where authorities seized a total of P10.41 billion worth of narcotics with 27,968 barangays cleared of narcotics in 2023.

“In total, 56,495 suspects were arrested in more than 44,00 anti-illegal drug operations. We also worked with the Justice sector to improve the handling of drug-related offenses with 121,582 convictions since we took office,’’ Abalos said during New Year call event at Camp Crame.

Focused crimes

Concerning the campaign against criminality, Abalos cited the PNP for the dip by 8.44 percent in the eight focused crimes from 38,302 as of January to November 2022 to 35,085 from the same period the following year.

There was also a decrease of 7.32 percent in non-index crimes from 160,016 to 148,300 during the said period, according to Abalos.

Abalos noted that the PNP has also extended its “horizon” and played a key role in thwarting emerging forms of crime, forging partnership with other concerned agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Anti-Money Laundering Council in running after scammers and money launderers.

Through the National Crime Prevention program of the National Police Commission, Abalos stated that there is now a balance between crime response with crime prevention by dedicating significant resources to crime predictive analytics, establishing of a crime knowledge management system and working with partners “here and abroad”  to enhance human rights-based policing.