MANILA, Philippines – Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa reminded his men and women to ensure the public’s safety during New Year festivities.

“I am appealing to your sense of urgency. Let us make this new year’s celebration the safest ever for everyone by achieving zero death and the lowest number of injuries,” he said in a statement on Sunday, December 31.

Dela Rosa, PNP chief since July 2016, reminded top officials to “press on your subordinate commanders to perform [their] best.”

“Remember always that the numbers of casualties in your respective areas of responsibility (AOR) is reflective of your kind of leadership,” he added.

Cops have been deployed to be on duty from December 31 until the new year to monitor festivities.

They will, in particular, be tasked to implement a ban on the use of firecrackers and certain pyrotechnics in homes. Instead, community areas have been set up for the use of firecrackers.

Dela Rosa also waxed nostalgic on the year that’s been, in his message to the 170,000-strong PNP.

“Happy new year and thank you for rowing the boat that I captain in the same direction and with unfaltering intensity through the storms of 2017,” he said.

Dela Rosa is set to step down in January 2017, when he reaches the mandatory age of retirement, 56.

But he will be extending his tour of duty for several more months under the orders of President Rodrigo Duterte. He is also slated to be chief of the Bureau of Corrections, which oversees the country’s penitentiaries.

2017 was particularly tumultuous for the PNP over controversies linked to the drug war and its errant personnel. Early in the year, it was revealed that police had kidnapped and murdered a Korean businessman right inside Camp Crame.

The PNP was ordered out of the drug war amid backlash over the incident but were eventually ordered back a month after.

Dela Rosa has also had to defend the PNP time and time again from allegations that its men and women were resorting to extralegal force and means in the name of the drug war.

The PNP was also involved in security preparations for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summits in Manila.

In August, it was discovered that Caloocan cops killed several teenaged boys, allegedly in the conduct of police operations.

That claim proved to be weak, leading to the sacking of several top officials linked to the killings. The police were once again ordered out of the drug war.

Months later, Duterte ordered them back in the drug war. – Rappler.com