PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) Chief Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar will meet with Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director General Wilkins Villanueva to iron out gaps and weaknesses in procedure with regard to coordination and interoperability between the two law enforcement agencies in the frontline of the campaign against illegal drugs.
PGen. Eleazar will be accompanied by senior PNP officers when they meet their PDEA counterparts for a top-level meeting at Camp Crame in Quezon City.
“Illegal drug syndicates are taking advantage of the weaknesses or gaps in the rules of procedure on coordination and inter-operations between the PNP and the PDEA. Kasama ang PDEA, ito ang tututukan natin ngayon para maiwasan na maulit pa,” said PGen. Eleazar.
On Friday, May 14, operatives of the drug enforcement unit of the Quezon City Police District Station 4 and PDEA agents figured in an another incident of apparent miscommunication at the parking lot of a mall in Quezon City which affected the supposed buy-bust operations of the two agencies.
Fortunately, inter-agency courtesy prevailed and timely communication averted a repeat of what happened last February along Commonwealth Avenue, also in Quezon City.
“We will look into this issue beyond coordination concern, ano ba talaga ang problema why this issue keeps on recurring? Kaya nga nag-schedule tayo ng meeting with Director General Wilkins Villanueva, kasama ang ibang concerned officers, para ito mapag usapan at maayos na,” PGen. Eleazar explained.
The Chief PNP stressed the need for all of the government’s drug enforcement units to constantly analyze, discuss and update the strategies in the campaign against illegal drugs to identify the areas of improvement in the conduct of intelligence-gathering and operations.
He said the two incidents that happened in Quezon City, in February and on Friday, only strengthen the agencies’ resolve to strike hard against them.
“Likewise, we will set up features in the rules that would keep our men on the right track so that all their operations will be conducted with regularity and integrity,” PGen. Eleazar pointed out.
“Upang sa ganun, ang ating pagkilos kontra iligal na droga ay patuloy na maging agresibo at epektibo,” he added.