Editorials
Barangay Kapitans should go to war vs. drugs
NOW that the President herself has worn the hat of czar in the campaign against illegal drugs — never mind that it has been both abhorred and applauded by different sectors — the government appears to be sending out a loud and clear message that it wants serious solutions to the problem.
The Liga ng mga Barangay in Pangasinan, which holds a lot of untapped potential, should pick up on this signal from the national government. Our barangay officials must now put on their own hats as the frontline soldiers in the war against drugs.
Our barangay kapitans and tanods as well as the Sangguniang Pangkabataan should take command in monitoring and focus on sanitizing their communities until they can confidently declare that their barangays are drug-free zones.
With barangay officials in the lead, chances are bigger that even the corrupt policemen protecting drug lords will be neutralized.
Furthermore, if the government’s all-out campagin is adopted by the Liga, there will expectedly be peer and community pressure on the barangay chiefs, which will isolate and unmask the barangay chiefs who are drug pushers themselves. These hoodlum barangay chiefs, who abuse their authority to promote their illegal activities, should all the more be watched and supervised as they become even more dangerous with their issued shotguns from the provincial government.
Flushing out the drug pushers, then helping rehabilitate the drug users in the barangays, not only means putting an end to the illegal drug menace but will also pave the way for more peaceful and secure communities.
The case of Sto. Tomas, which claims to be one, if not the most peaceful towns in the province with its very minimal crime rate, could very well stand as a model. The town’s police chief, Chief Inspector Jimmy Agtarap, points out that one of the major contributing factors to their enviable peace and order situation is past efforts against criminal elements, particularly the illegal drug dealers.
The drug problem in the country may be so large-scale and prevalent that it requires all these current attention at the national level. But the more meaningful solutions, those that affected families and communities can truly and immediately feel, are those that can readily be enforced by barangay leaders who have the political will and determination to make a real difference.
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