2 cops first casualty of Abalos ‘house cleansing’

Two Mandaluyong City policemen were the first casualty in the effort of Mayor Benjamin "Benhur" Abalos Jr. to clean the ranks of his local police force of drug dependents.

Abalos ordered the transfer of the two policemen, who were found positive in the recent drug tests initiated by him, outside Mandaluyong City to serve as a warning to others that he means business in his effort to make his city drug free. However, so as not to embarrass the said policemen and their families, the young mayor refused to reveal their identities.

"I ordered the two cops transferred outside my city to send a strong signal that we will not tolerate the existence of illegal drugs here," said Abalos in an interview. "Their case should serve as an example to other policemen."

Senior Superintendent Sukarno Ikbala, the local police chief said at least 10 of the city’s 27 barangays continue to be tagged as "drug infested." However, Ikbala said they are conducting continuous information campaign in the said barangay to educate residents of the evils of drugs. He added that only a small amount of shabu are being peddled in the city streets. "There is no bigtime drug syndicate based here. What we keep on arresting are small time drug pushers who are immediately back in the streets because they can afford to post bail," said Ikbala.

Ikbala pointed out that the drug addicts in Mandaluyong City comprise only one percent of the 304,000 residents. Upon the orders of Abalos, Ikbala dissolved recently the local drug enforcement unit after a weighing scale donated by the mayor to the DEU turned up at the house of a drug pusher.

The eight-man team led by PO3 Eduardo Vicente was replaced by a group headed by PO3 Vic Santos.

All members of the local police and city hall employees were ordered by Abalos to undergo drug testing and the two policemen were found positive and subsequently transferred. The mayor also subjected to the same drug tests students of public schools and those tested positive were asked to undergo drug rehabilitation for six months.

According to Abalos, he will not hesitate to crack the whip against drug dependent policemen and city hall employees because "my drug cleansing process" should start at home. "How can we enforce the full text of the anti-drugs law when those assigned to implement them are drug dependents themselves," asked the young mayor.