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NEW Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Camilo Cascolan will continue to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic while targeting high-value drug targets and misguided police officers during his brief stint.
Cascolan, currently the PNP’s deputy director of administration, will succeed outgoing PNP chief Archie Gamboa, who retired on September 2, 2020. However, he is scheduled to retire on November 10.
Cascolan said in a television interview on Wednesday, September 2: “Obviously, our problem right now is the pandemic. As chair of the ASCOTF committee, I will focus on improving and developing initiatives so that we can reduce the number of Covid-19 cases. “
Cascolan heads the Administrative Support of the Covid-19 Operations Working Group (ASCOTF), which addresses the administrative concerns of police officers deployed for the implementation of the quarantine protocol.
Cascolan is also a member of the 1986 Philippine Military Academy Sinagtala Class along with Gamboa and former PNP chiefs Ronald dela Rosa and Oscar Albayalde.
Cascolan said: “We just continue our service to our country. I have a short term. I also have long-term plans, but basically I would just like to continue the service that I have provided to this country since I was made an officer. “
He added: “I am happy to serve even if it is only for two months. Protection, service, that is what is needed and through the PNP, I hope to be able to improve our service to this country ”.
Cascolan served in the Davao Regional Police Office, where he established ties with now-President Rodrigo Duterte and his long-time aide, now Senator Christopher Lawrence Go.
Dela Rosa and Cascolan worked hand in hand to develop the Oplan Double Barrel, a PNP program against illegal drugs.
The Oplan Double Barrel, which includes the Oplan Tokhang, was heavily criticized for the murder of thousands of suspected drug personalities on the street.
Cascolan said he will ensure that anti-drug operations are focused on high-value targets under his supervision.
“This will be the focus of the anti-drug campaign. Of course, it will be evaluated and re-evaluated from time to time. We will try to improve our war on drugs so that we can arrest more valuable people, ”he said.
He said efforts to eliminate errant police officers will also be prioritized as they go hand in hand with the campaign against illegal drugs.
He said he will reevaluate the PNP’s cleanup program to improve the PNP’s image, the fight against illicit drugs, and the efforts and programs that are being implemented amid the pandemic.
He also said that he will visit police camps to check the morale and well-being of his men, as well as learn and provide solutions to various problems on the ground.
Cascolan said that he will order the strengthening of marshals in public transport vehicles and terminals to ensure that the health protocol is followed.
It also plans to create barangay enforcement teams to ensure quarantine protocol compliance in the communities.
“I will make sure that everyone who enforces or implements the law is disciplined and also follows the law that they are implementing,” he said.
In Cebu, the director of the Central Visayas Regional Police Office (PRO 7), Brigadier General Albert Ignatius Ferro, said he expects a massive renewal within the police hierarchy now that Cascolan has been appointed as the new chief of the PNP.
But Ferro will not anticipate Cascolan’s plans, especially as he plans to meet with PRO directors to discuss his plans and marching orders.
However, he assured Cascolan of his support.
Cascolan is the fourth PNP chief to be a member of the 1986 Sinagtala Class of the Philippine Military Academy.
Ferro believes Cascolan could bring broader plans and programs to the PNP, especially with his previous role as designer of Oplan Double Barrel, which became a highlight of President Duterte’s drug war. (SunStar Philippines, AYB / MMC)
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