Against illegal drugs ABC questions lack of action

CEBU, Philippines - Some members of the Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) in the Province of Cebu aired frustrations on the failure of law enforcement agencies to act on the reports submitted by barangay officials on the illegal drug operations in their areas.

In a meeting yesterday presided by Provincial Board Member Celestino “Tining” Martinez III, president of the ABC provincial federation, the body discussed the reactivation of the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council (BADAC).

This after some ABC presidents lamented that they have been submitting and identifying names of drug personalities operating in their areas in the past years, but nothing has happened.

The creation of the anti-drug abuse body in all barangays was emphasized in the last meeting of the Cebu Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Commission (CPADAC) wherein the barangay officials are empowered to identify names of drug personalities in their localities.

 â€œWe will look into this matter, we will follow it up with the authorities, maayo unta mapangitaan na og paagi,” Martinez said.

Martinez said that better coordination between the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the Philippine National Police and the local government units should be imposed.

He also encouraged the barangay officials to cooperate with the authorities as he hopes to see movements in the campaign against illegal drugs.

“Og way mahitabo ani, maka-cause og  frustration, discouragement sa barangays to cooperate. Hopefully, we can do something about this as soon as possible,” Martinez added.

Mauro Licen, who represented the PDEA-7 during the ABC meeting, said that the agency has been doing something on the names submitted to them.

“It takes time to validate especially mga dagku, we have to build up strong evidence,” Licen said, adding that to conduct an operation against a suspected drug personality without strong evidence would be a waste of time.

“Kinahanglan ang kaso mobarug gyud sa korte maong mag-develop gyud ta og strong case build up,” he said.

Licen has welcomed the move to reactivate anti-drug abuse councils at the barangay level, saying that the officials are the frontliners, being the ones who know the activities in their areas of responsibility.

“Daku ni sila matabang sa information education campaign bahin sa dautang epekto sa panglawas, sa komunidad ug diha sa pamil-ya,” he said.

Among the actions Licen said the local government units can do is to provide livelihood and skills trainings to their constituents to minimize illegal drug operations. — (FREEMAN)