Deretsahan
Mr. Villar has given notice that he will temporarily be on leave and will resume writing soon. — Editor
Active Anti-Drugs Advisory Council is key
By Bebot Villar
LOOKS like the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections scheduled on October 31 will be postponed for next year!
Obviously, the current administration believes it will benefit from this postponement since the ban on appointments will not take place if the elections will be postponed.
For us, this will only mean two things.
If you have a properly functioning barangay council, the postponement will be good news as your community will continue to receive good public service from your current crop of officials for another year, at least.
However, if your barangay has leaders who are pasaway and inutil, napakamalas nyo naman! You have to suffer their incompetence, corruption and kapalpakan for another year!
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Speaking of the barangays, I do hope the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) is serious in establishing Barangay Anti–Drug Abuse Councils (BADAC) in the light of the President’s announcement that our barangays will be at the forefront of this administration’s ongoing war against drugs.
Kumusta na ang 280 barangays in our province that do not have BADACs? This was the figure reported last month during the Question Hour of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan. Did the DILG sanction the barangay officials who did not heed its memorandum circular calling for the establishment, revitalization and or reactivation of BADACs? That same circular expressly provides that failure to activate BADACs will cause the disapproval of the Annual Budget of that barangay, in addition to the filing of an administrative case for dereliction of duty against the barangay officials concerned!
As I’m sure merong mga pasaway sa kanila, may ginawa kaya ang mga local DILG offices? Or pasaway din sila?
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The establishment of ADACs in the city/town/barangay levels is a brilliant idea that should be very effective in addressing the illegal drugs in the communities. In fact, since 1998, DILG has issued seven circulars, “gently reminding” LGUs of this responsibility. I dare to describe these circulars gentle, even though they have administrative sanctions against those who fail to heed the order.
Ang kaso, wala namang nakakasuhan o nadi-disiplina kung hindi sinunod ang mga circulars na iyan!
Mukhang hindi pinapansin ng ating LGUs itong mga circulars ng DILG? Hihintayin pa yata nila na ang Pangulo pa ang magsabi sa kanila na sumunod sa circulars tungkol sa ADACs.
* * * *
I commend Senior Superintendent Ronald Oliver Lee, acting provincial director of the Pangasinan Police Provincial Office (PPPO)! After being appointed last July, Lee did not waste time and immediately put into action the promise of President Duterte to stamp out criminality and illegal drugs in our country.
Upon assumption of his post, he immediately launched the war on drugs in Pangasinan and the guns–for–hire syndicates. I am pleased to note that from July to August, PPPO already arrested almost 450 individuals, 46 of them among the top 10 drug personalities in various towns in the province, under their Project Double Barrel!
* * * *
It’s very reassuring to learn that Pangasinan PPO had also engaged members of the notorious “Rent–Tangay” gang in a gunfight that resulted in the deaths of five of its members. The team manning the checkpoint gave chase after the gang, using a stolen vehicle, sped past the checkpoint.
The group’s modus operandi caught the attention of the media. Posing as visiting OFWs or tourists, they would lease these private vans for a short trip and then kill the driver in order to steal the vehicle! Kailangan pa bang patayin ang pobreng driver na naghahanapbuhay para matangay lang ang kanyang sasakyan?
But in the end, these gang members got their just desserts, courtesy of the Pangasinan PPO led by P/Sr. Supt. Lee!
(For your comments and reactions, please email to: punch.sunday@gmail.com)
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