We are all in this war together – Gov. Espino
LINGAYEN—The war vs. illegal drugs is everyone’s battle.
This was the terse message of Governor Amado Espino Jr. as he appealed to his constituents to help in the effort by reporting illegal drug activities in their neighborhood to the police during last week’s meeting of the Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Council (PADAC) that he presided.
“We are in full cooperation with the law enforcement,” intoned Mr. Espino.
Espino, one of the authors of the Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act when he was still a congressman, stressed that the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), along with the Philippine National Police, is the major stakeholder in the operations against illegal drugs, and the rest of the community shall provide support.
He said that the main responsibility of the community members is to report any information on illegal drug activities and to report to him if their local police are not doing anything about their information.
According to the Pangasinan Provincial Police Office (PPPO), Supt. Benjamin Ariola, chief of the operations and plans branch, 609 drug personalities have already been identified and included in their watch list, 56 under target list, and 25 wanted.
Mr. Espino shared the report that with 23.6% drug affectation or 322 out of 1,364 drug-affected barangays in the province, Pangasinan, he said, “is faring better than other provinces.”According to PDEA Region 1 Director Edgar Apalla, illegal drugs in circulation in Pangasinan are shabu (98%) and marijuana (2%).
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PANGASINAN PROVINCIAL POLICE OFFICE
Anti-Drug Situation Scorecard (January to June 2015)
* 62 drug personalities neutralized: 35 under watch list (out of 609), 1 under wanted list (out of 25), 1 under target list (out of 56) and 25 among top drug personalities
*385 positive operations conducted (compared to 216 operations conducted last year or 78.24% increase).
*492 drug pushers/users arrested.
*896.05 grams of shabu and 700.18grams of marijuana seized (compared to 618.7168 grams of shabu last year or 44.83 % increase).
*P5.8 million total value seized.
*547 cases filed in various courts.
*3 alleged clandestine drug laboratories raided (San Fabian, Mangatarem and Mabini), none was found.
*322 drug affected barangays (Category 1: 4 barangays, Category 2: 230, Category 3: 88)
* Cleared barangay (0).
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Source of shabu in Pangasinan is reportedly the National Capital Region, Cavite, and Region 3 while the marijuana is reportedly coming from the Cordillera Administrative Region as Kalinga, Mt. Province, and Benguet provinces.
Drug personalities use minors to act as drug couriers, money transfers and bank transactions, cargo and courier services, among other modes of transport of drugs, said Apalla.
“I’m just alarmed of the price of drugs here,” he said, citing the price of shabu in Pangasinan is cheaper than in other provinces.
In PDEA Region 1’s presentation during the meeting, shabu in Pangasinan costs P2,000 per gram on an average.
A report in 2012 cited that shabu in the country, on an average, cost P5,000 per gram.
PADAC INITIATIVES
Meanwhile, Vice Governor Jose Ferdinand Calimlim Jr. disclosed that the provincial government provides P12 million allocation for its PADAC.
Earlier, Mr. Espino previously advised all local governments units (LGUs) in the province to allocate a portion of their annual budget for their respective anti-illegal drugs campaign.
Mr. Calimllim said PADAC has already organized and activated ADACs in all 48 cities and municipalities, and have created their anti-illegal drug action plans.
Moreover, 97% or 1,322 out of the 1,364 barangays in the province have organized their barangay ADACs, while the remaining 3% have yet to complete their organization.
In Nov. 2010, Board Member and Liga ng mga Barangay (LNB) provincial president Amado ‘Pogi’ Espino III authored a resolution passed during the Sangguniang Panlalawigan regular session on November 10, 2014 to organize or reactivate the BADACs.
Mr. Calimlim pointed out that PADAC programs are focused on awareness drives, reward system to informants, publication of accomplishment reports, continuous evaluation and assessment, among others are ongoing.
On May 3, 2015, the PADAC also launched its hotline 0922-4256456 to receive reports and complaints about reports that remain unacted upon. (Johanne R. Macob)
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