MANILA: OPLAN Tokhang, the controversial strategy used by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to fight drugs, looks set to end after Malacanang and the police said they were open to discussions on the operation.
National Police spokesman Brigadier-General Bernard Banac said they agreed to end the operation if ordered to by Vice-President Maria Leonor Robredo.
According to the Manila Times, the police were behind Robredo in making the drug war a success.
“We will support Vice-President Robredo in her capacity as drug czar and co-chairman of ICAD (Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs),” said Banac.
Earlier, the palace said it was open to scrapping Oplan Tokhang as long as there was a more effective way of carrying out crackdowns.
Duterte had said that he would provide Robredo everything she needed in her fight against drugs and that she had a free rein as co-chairman of ICAD.
Reports in Inquirer.net had earlier quoted Robredo as saying that she accepted Duterte’s offer to lead the crackdown on drugs.
She said she wanted to get rid of Tokhang, the door-to-door campaign by police to flush out pushers and users. Hundreds have since been killed in the operations.
“I plan on replacing Tokhang with a more effective campaign that would not lead to the killing of drug suspects.”
Robredo had said the operation was a campaign against the poor.
“As long as Robredo is in charge, we will enforce whatever she feels necessary. She has been given the authority,” said presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo.
However, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), which is the lead agency in the campaign against drugs, remained mum on the possible scraping of Tokhang.
An agency spokesman told Manila Times that it would rather not say anything as Tokhang was a project under the police.
Robredo said: “I will let police and the agency come up with a new programme to fight drugs.
“It would be better for law enforcers to conceptualise a more effective programme so they can have ownership.
“ It is difficult if we have to dictate to them.”
She will exchange views with officials from the United States embassy and international groups on how to tackle the drug problem.
“We need help to go after drug lords and I want to look at available resources.”
She said she was ready to present her plans as the co-chair of ICAD at the House of Representatives.
“I am looking forward to it as it will be a good platform for me to point out the new direction of the anti-drug campaign.”