“What’s in a name?” That’s what Philippine National Police Chief Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa asked when the issue of dropping the name tokhang — the term used for an operation in its anti-drug crackdown — was raised during an interview with the press yesterday in Camp Crame.
“What’s important is the result, what happens with your campaign, regardless of the name,” he continued.
Tokhang is a Cebuano term used to describe what is supposed to be a non-violent strategy of going to drug suspect’s houses and asking them to stop illegal drug activities. In English, it translates to “knock and plead.”
However, the term has lost its non-violent image and has instead been associated with the various bloody confrontations and shootouts the police have had with alleged drug pushers.
According to the PNP, about 3,000 people have been killed in the police’s anti-drug crackdown.
Dropping the term tokhang was raised by Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chief Director General Aaron Aquino on Monday when reporters asked him what advice he would give the PNP as it creates new guidelines before coming back to head the crackdown.
“Tokhang is just to appeal to the drug personality to surrender. That’s it. But the connotation of tokhang to many is killing…that’s why they should stop using the word tokhang, because it’s misleading and people give a bad connotation to the word tokhang,” Aquino said.
In October, Duterte suspended all police anti-drug operations for the second time and made PDEA lead the country’s war on drugs. The suspension came after intense international scrutiny brought by a series of teen deaths associated with the police.
However, last month, Duterte said he would bring back the police as the lead in the war on drugs.
For Dela Rosa, there is no use perfuming reality.
“You’ll change the name, you’re trying to deodorize your campaign to make it appear more palatable to the critics. They will keep finding holes [in your plan] and make up stories,” he said.
Dela Rosa is set to retire this coming January and is said to be replaced by Deputy Director General Ramon Apolinario.
Reader Interactions