MANILA, Philippines – Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Driector General Ronald dela Rosa downplayed on Monday, October 2, the claim of the President that 9,000 of 194,410 cops are into drugs.

According to the top cop, President Rodrigo Duterte counted cops with any involvement, which includes involvement through inaction.

“Hindi naman talaga sinasabi niya na pasok sa sindikato yung 9,000. Sangkot, ibig sabihin ng sangkot, may invovlement in one way or another,” Dela Rosa said.

“’Yung involvement niya baka nandon sa pagpapabaya na grabe na yung alam niya na grabe na yung transaction ng droga sa area niya wala na siyang ginagawa, kasama na rin d’on,” Dela Rosa added.

(He did not say that the 9,000 were part of a syndicate. Involvement means they are involved in one way or another. One’s involvement can mean negligence from acting on a drug-infested community, he’s counted too.)

If Duterte’s tally is true, 4 in every 100 policemen are “involved” in the drug trade.

Asked whether the PNP itself was behind the 9,000 record, Dela Rosa said they just “contributed” to the number.

Dela Rosa said Duterte had “compiled” counts himself from different sources including the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, the Armed Forces, and “civilian intelligence”.

With this, Dela Rosa said the count of the President was “more or less” correct, and he committed to catching them with caution. So far, the PNP’s internal cleansing has sacked hundreds of cops for being linked to illegal drugs.

“Huhulihin natin at kakasuhan wag diritsuhang patayin. Patayin kung lumaban makipaglaban sayo edi alangan you have to protect yourself. Pero at least inaaddress natin hindi tayo nagbibibingibingihan hindi tayo nagbubulagbulagan sa problema na ‘yan we address the issue head on,” Dela Rosa added.

(We will file cases, we won’t kill them. We will kill them if they fight back. But at least we are addressing them, we do not turn deaf and blind on the problem, we are addressing it head on.) – Rappler.com