LINGAYEN – About P2.8 million worth of illegal drugs, including about 10 kilograms of marijuana, were burned Monday at the town plaza here as part of an effort to highlight an all-out war against drugs in the province.

     “The province is winning the war against illegal drugs,” said Vice Governor Oscar Lambino, who is also the executive director of the Pangasinan Anti Drug Abuse Coordinating Council (PADAC).

     The burning of the illegal drug which was part of evidence in pending cases before different courts around the province was recommended by Regional Trial Court Executive Judge Emma Bauzon.

     Lambino said that based on a recent Supreme Court circular, once a substance is proven positive as illegal drugs based on laboratory findings, these can already be burned after having been presented as evidence to avoid possible recycling.

     The PADAC also gave awards to deserving police officers, judges and mayors for their support in the anti- drug abuse campaign during the observance of this year’s Anti-Drug Abuse Week celebration in the province. 

     Meanwhile, in Urdaneta City, an anti-drug abuse symposium was attended by more than 5,000 students, barangay officials and teachers at the City Cultural and Civic Center also on Monday.

     The event, which was part of an overall program dubbed “Oplan 101: Kill Droga,” was an initiative of Undersecretary for Local Governance Antonio Villar Jr of the Office of the President in cooperation with Urdaneta City Mayor Amadeo Perez Jr, the Dangerous Drugs Board, Philippine National Police regional director Chief Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

     Villar said the campaign can only be made successful if local officials actively pursue it in their own backyard by jailing the pushers and bringing the users to rehabilitation centers regardless whether those involved are their own relatives or friends.

     “We did it in my own hometown where my wife is the mayor and we are drug-free for so long a time now,” Villar said. 

     Perez, for his part, said he brought his own nephew to a rehabilitation center.

     Bataoil said the arrest on Monday of two Ilocos marijuana queens, Wilmalyn Alacdis and Juliet Pagaden, should serve as a strong warning against drug pushers that the police are out to put them behind bars. — EVA

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