MANILA, Philippines – Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II is being challenged to arrest suspected drug traffickers through a mechanism enhancing coordination between the Philippine National Police (PNP) and more than 42,000 barangays nationwide.
Sen. Grace Poe hurled the challenge at the Department of the Interior and Local Government that Roxas heads.
Barangay officials play an important role in the national government’s campaign against drug trafficking and abuse as they know exactly the dealers and users of illegal drugs in their jurisdictions, she said.
“There should be a clear mechanism in place to ensure better coordination between the PNP and the barangays in the reporting system of drug-related activities,” she said.
Poe also called on citizens and communities to take an active role in reporting drug violations to authorities.
“It is high time we address the drug problem at the grassroots level,” she said.
“Community involvement is essential to the success of the government’s anti-drug campaign.”
The Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council (BACDAC), a community-based mechanism to combat illegal drugs, must be strengthened to secure the commitment of every barangay and its residents in the fight against narcotics and crimes associated with it, Poe said.
Drug abuse has assumed alarming proportions, with 1.8 million Filipinos being addicts, she added.
It poses a serious threat to public health and to the wellbeing and security of residents, Poe said.
Created under Republic Act 9165, the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, the BADAC is comprised of the barangay councilor, who heads the committee on peace and order, the head of the barangay tanods, principals of schools in the barangays, and presidents of community associations.
The BADAC is tasked to conduct information and education campaign on the ill effects of illegal drugs, monitor and report to proper authorities drug pushers and drug users in the locality, prepare a confidential watch list of drug users and pushers for submission to the police, and plan, strategize, implement and evaluate programs and projects on drug abuse prevention in the barangay.