More than 500 on Batangas City drug watchlist surrender
July 11, 2016 | 3:15pm
BATANGAS CITY, Philippines (The Filipino Connection) – More than 500 people said to be engaged in the sale and use of illegal drugs in this city surrendered to police here on Saturday, vowing to stop their activities and mend their lives.
Superintendent Barnard Dasugo, Batangas City police chief, attributed the mass surrender to their house-to-house visits on suspected drug users and peddlers in various barangays in the city under the police’s Oplan Tokhang program.
“Oplan Tokhang” is a nationwide drug campaign of the Philippine National Police, where authorities try to convince drug suspects to stop illegal drug activities and turn themselves over to police.
Some of the surrenderees said they yielded to authorities because of the wave of killings of suspected pushers and users since President Rodrigo Duterte, known for his hardline stance against drugs, took his oath of office.
“I’m afraid I would be killed next if I don’t surrender now. I also wanted to show my family and others that I’m ready to change my life,” a 46-year-old admitted drug addict told The Filipino Connection in an interview.
Dasugo said 95 of the 105 barangays in Batangas City are affected by drugs an, based on their records, there are at least 500 drug pushers and 600 drug users, which underscores the importance of ridding the city of the drug menace.
At least three drug lords continue to operate in the city and Dasugo said these people are included in their priority list. Already, seven drug pushers, all included in the city’s drug watchlist, have been arrested since Dasugo became police chief on July 1.
The province’s top drug personality Julian Carpio and his son Julian Carpio, Jr. were also killed in an alleged shootout with authorities serving a search warrant at their residence in Barangay Calicanto on July 5.
Before making their vows in front of the police, city prosecutors and public attorneys, the surrenderees were asked to fill out information sheets that also required them to name their sources of drugs. As part of the profiling process, each of them was also photographed and fingerprinted by authorities.
Dasugo said that they will not file charges against those who surrendered and their names would be removed from the drug watchlist. However, they will continue to monitor their activities with the help of the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council.
Those who will not stay true to the agreement with authorities will likewise be “subjected to police offensive operations.”
Batangas City Mayor Beverley Dimacuha appealed to surrenderees to stop engaging in illegal drug activities, saying that she’s on an all-out war against drugs.
While she recognizes that the rehabilitation process may be difficult, Dimacuha said that the government is ready to assist them.
“Do you want to see yourselves on television with a newspaper cover? You only have one life to live so make the most out of it. The best project is to work on yourself,” she stressed.
Her husband Batangas City Rep. Mario Vittorio Mariño vowed to help the surrenderees by recommending them for livelihood, scholarship, medical and financial assistance.
The neophyte legislator said he will also work to build a rehabilitation facility for the drug dependents in the city.
The Filipino Connection is a new newspaper in Lipa City, Batangas
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