Punchline
Illegal drugs are burning homes
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
DAGUPAN City Police Chief Christopher Abrahano may be on target and up to expectation in the city’s campaign vs. illegal drugs but as we listen to residents bewail and bemoan how families were being broken up by illegal drug trafficking in the city, how despair has replaced hope that the city will win the war vs. drug syndicates, law enforcement in this case can no longer suffice as a solution.
The worsening drug problem can no longer be isolated as a violation of R.A. No. 9165 penalizing illegal drug trafficking. It behooves a drastic political and social approach minus motherhood statements.
More than at anytime in the past, the Belen Fernandez administration should begin to view illegal drug trafficking from an entirely new perspective, that it not only poses a serious threat to survival of families, to future of the young generation, but that it has began to cause irreparable damage to moral fiber and values in community life, and towards life itself.
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IT’S ABOUT ACCOUNTABILITY. There is no law that punishes a community that embraces an environment of violence.
There is no law that punishes profit motives that impact on collateral damages. In this case, profit is the motive of the drug syndicates, pushers and peddlers but their known and established collateral damage are families and the values they keep.
What specific law can be used against drug syndicates that use minors to peddle drugs, that sell shabu to grade and high school kids for P2 for a day’s fix?
Merely seeking to constrict supply of illegal drugs can no longer be enough as an objective to win the war. It must now go hand in hand with the political will to constrict and stop the influence being enjoyed by drug syndicates to operate in communities.
Translation: We must begin to hold barangay officials accountable for tolerating and protecting illegal drug operations.
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INVOKING E.O. 226. In this case, there is a law that can stop barangay officials who extend protection, or who tolerate drug trading in their communities. We refer to Executive Order No. 226. In brief, it penalizes officials who know that there exists an illegal activity but do not act to stop it!
But who can and who will invoke it? Not necessarily the law enforcement agencies whose basic mandate is to uphold R.A. 9165 but key officers of responsible and elected officials.
In Dagupan City, that responsibility rests squarely on the shoulders of Mayor Belen and Rhoderick Dawis. DILG-Dagupan that has administrative control of barangay officials. Ditto in all towns and cities in Pangasinan.
(In the province, that responsibility rests on Guv Spines and Reggie Colisao, DILG-provincial).
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NO MORE BUCK-PASSING. Mayor Belen should view the recent arrest of the 13-year-old Grade 7 pupil, for drug peddling as extremely worrisome. She should begin to wonder: How many more are possibly working with drug syndicates? 20? 30? As others see it, the prospect of many young boys and girls (9-15 years old) beginning to be lured by drug syndicates to their lair can no longer consider Dagupan a child-friendly city since it seemingly cannot protect them from the clutches of unscrupulous drug lords and barangay officials.
The drug den raid in Bonuan Binloc three weeks ago that netted 17 youngsters already indicates that the police hit the tip of the iceberg. The arrested youngsters simply had the misfortune of being in the den at the time of the raid, so we should wonder how many more don’t go to that den but peddle for another group or take there fix in another den in four barangays already seriously infected. 200? 500?
The city’s social welfare unit surely must have indicators to show how many homes are burning from within because of illegal drugs. It if doesn’t, then it doesn’t understand what social problems mean.
Then, if Mr. Dawis still believes that involvement of barangay officials in illegal drug trafficking is PDEA’s and law enforcers’ problem, then it only shows how little he understands and gives importance to the authority that his office has over the official conduct of barangay officials.
The time for passing the buck is over! Many homes in the city are falling apart from damaged and if not totally broken values from within! Parents desperately await their accountable and responsible officials to keep the drug syndicates and peddlers far away from their homes, and their children’s schools
The families desperately need to see their accountable barangay officials pay for their crimes – for allowing their homes to be broken.
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TODAY, NOT TOMORROW. It’s also no longer enough for the Peace and Order Advisory Council to merely receive and rely on Police Chief Abrahano’s reports and efforts to trap and arrest the hundreds of petty drug pushers operating in the barangays.
The council cannot but take the lead in the war by confronting barangay officials, i.e., Bonuan Binloc’s Pedro Gonzales, Pantal’s Julie Perez, Bonuan Gueset’s Rico Mejia, Lucao’s Lino Fernandez, for starters, and regularly monitoring the activities of the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Councils in the city.
The Peace and Order Council can calm nerves of residents if it offers to be accountable in the war vs. drugs as well. If it doesn’t, then the city is sunk.
Mayor Belen, homes of hundreds of Dagupeños are already burning from within. The affected families need your help today, not tomorrow!
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LOST FRIENDS. Last week, I encountered my first serious mind-boggling encounter with technology, no thanks to Facebook!
Our Sunday PUNCH made its presence in Facebook 5 years ago, and we’ve since developed special friendships with over a thousand Pangasinenses here and overseas, sharing friends’ personal notes, news and views that we thought could invite more public involvement in community life.
Then to my utter shock, Facebook decided last Monday to disconnect The PUNCH as an account and directed us to convert the account into a page (which we already have). Believe you me that totally unexpected move made us suffer from a separation anxiety. We literally lost contact with our FB friends and there’s nothing we could do about it!
FB gave what it obviously thinks are easy directions for the conversion. Easy perhaps to techies who eat technology for breakfast, but us? We can only manage to rationalize why we should press “Like” and “Share” postings on our account.
So to our lost FB friends, let’s get reunited by “Liking” our Sunday Punch page. Simply click the FB icon that can be found on top of our website (punch.dagupan.com), that will lead you to The PUNCH page.
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The PUNCH staff had a fun time with our Platinum Kabaleyan member, Joe Ceralde last Friday! He was the gracious host for a quick lunch (Friday being a presswork day). I felt privileged to know more about him up close. With kabaleyans like him, Pangasinan will never have to lose a reason to be proud of its citizens!
(For your comments and reactions, please email to: punch.sunday@gmail.com)
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