SAN Jacinto town has been declared drug–free by the regional oversight committee led by the Philippine Drug enforcement Agency last Tuesday, February 13.

James Fadrinal, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) regional director, led the ceremony at San Jacinto’s covered court attended by the 172 drug users and pushers who surrendered and have completed the Community-based Rehabilitation Program (CBRP).

The declaration was signed by PDEA Regional Director Bryan Babang, head of the regional oversight committee that validated the town’s compliance with all the requirements to become drug-free.

The successful finishers of the CBRP are now called reformists helping in various programs and projects of the municipality, especially on peace and order.

P/SR. Inspector Fernando Abacco, officer-in-charge at the San Jacinto Police Station, said the town’s 19 barangays which were originally drug-affected have been declared drug-free.

P/Sr. Superintendent Ronald Lee, police provincial director, said the reformists will soon be removed from the watch list of drug personalities if they maintain good behavior and have shown determination not to return to their drug habits.

Lee was the first to sign a tarpaulin attesting to the status of San Jacinto as drug-free, and wrote “Galit ako sa Droga”, followed by Fadrinal, town and barangay officials and members of the media present.

Retired Colonel Carlos Resurreccion, representing Gov. Amado Espino III and head of the secretariat of the Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Coordinating Council (PDACC), was earlier named by the governor to head the soon-to-be inaugurated Pangasinan Reformation Center, specifically for drug reformists.

Babang was represented by Melissa Estrada, PDEA administrative officer and PDEA Provincial Director Dexter Asayco.

Also in attendance were Mayor Robert de Vera, Vice Mayor Hilario de Guzman and members of the Sangguniang Bayan.

Also present was Chief Inspector Norman Florentino, chief of the Police Community Relations f the PPPO.

The 19 barangay chairmen received certifications that their barangays are drug-free.

In his speech, Fadrinal called on barangay officials and residents to remain alert and vigilant in stopping illegal drugs and violent extremism and to report to the police any suspicious new faces entering their villages to prevent the violence that erupted in Marawi City.

“You know, the incident in Marawi started with small things till it grew into a bigger thing that threatened to establish the first caliphate of ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) in Southeast Asia,” he said. (Leonardo Micua)

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