PRO-7 chief bares drug war strategy

CEBU, Philippines — Police Brigadier General Albert Ignatius Ferro, new director of the Police Regional Office (PRO), is set to introduce new approaches to address the drug problem in Central Visayas.

Ferro said he plans to adopt the project Resistance, Education Assistance For Drug for the Youth (Ready) of the Philippine National Police-Drug Enforcement Group (PNP-DEG) which he used to head.

The project is aimed at educating more grade school children on the ill-effects of illegal drugs.

Ferro said the PNP-DEG has modules for grades 1 to 12 with regard to resisting and combatting illegal drugs.

Through project Ready, police officers educate grades 1 to 12 students from all public and private schools and other learning institutions on the ill-effects of drugs with the end view of transforming them into much better Filipinos in the future.

“We are using this project as a tool to capacitate and increase the understanding of our youth about the consequences of using illegal drugs and learning different preventive strategies and techniques to say “No” to all forms of illegal substances that affect the vulnerable sector, our youth,” he said earlier.

Asked what other approach he will apply in the fight against illegal drugs in the region, Ferro revealed his “fishbowl concept.”

In a fishbowl, he said, the water represents users of illegal drugs while the fish are the suppliers of drugs.

“What will happen to this fishbowl if we removed the water from it?” he asked, and then said, “Eventually the fish will die.”

“So ang gusto ko pong gawin sa ating laban sa illegal na droga is kailangan maiwala yung environment, yung paglalanguyan ng masasamang loob (So what I want to do in the drug war is to dismantle the environment, that place where the bad guys swim),” Ferro said.

Aside from project Ready and “fishbowl” concept, Ferro also plans to implement the three-strike policy among the provincial and city directors, squadding system, and bring back the eight-hour police shift during his term.

Ferro replaced Brigadier General Valeriano De Leon, who served as PRO-7 director for only four months. De Leon is now with the Office of the Chief PNP. (FREEMAN)