MANILA, Philippines – With the return of the Philippine National Police to the government’s drug war, the newly-designated PNP drug enforcement chief urged all Filipinos to be on board with them.

PNP Drug Enforcement Group (DEG) chief Senior Superintendent Albert Ferro Ferro made the call on Monday, December 11, as he assumed his new post.

“Winning the hearts and minds of the people is the biggest challenge for me. We need the Filipino people to own this campaign against illegal drugs. The Filipino people should recognize that the President is with them against illegal drugs.” Ferro said in an interview with Rappler.

Ferro heads the elite group of cops focused on high-value targets like politicians or celebrities involved in illegal drugs. (READ: What’s the new PNP Drug Enforcement Group like?)

Ferro, who used to head the now disbanded Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (AIG), said his team will not go far in its anti-drug efforts without he help of local communities. He wants Filipinos to help as informants of the DEG.

“Most of our anti-illegal drugs operations were a product of information coming from the civilians, not all of those come from the police,” Ferro said.

He was referring to their case build-up process, where cops rely heavily on information from ordinary citizens to pin down not just drug users and traders, but also other criminals.

Ferro said one of their  biggest catches, drug lord Kerwin Espinosa, was a product of a civilian whistleblower who had the courage to go to cops.

“Paano ‘pag ang pulis lang ang aasahan natin (What if we only relied on the police)? The people need to own this program of stopping this menace of illegal drugs,” Ferro added.

Ferro made the call for more informants  to help the police, as the Supreme Court hears oral arguments on petitions questioning the procedures of cops in the drug war. (READ: Was the PNP’s war on drugs illegal? Here’s why lawyers think so)

Petitioners and justices have cast doubt on the credibility of such witnesses, as well as the supposedly sketchy reporting system in place.

Ferro defended cops as other top police officials have, saying that it is standard for them to validate all claims.

“Kasama na ‘yung validation doon (The validation is already included there),” Ferro said, referring to their operating procedures. – Rappler.com