‘Tokhang’ drop box at Iloilo City Hall

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BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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Tuesday. September 19, 2017
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ILOILO City – The city government is putting up a drop box at city hall where employees can discreetly slip pieces of paper containing the names of colleagues they suspect are into illegal drugs.

According to Acting Mayor Jose Espinosa III, the drop box will be positioned at the city hall lobby.

City hall chief of security Felix Muchada, a retired police superintendent, will monitor the drop box, said Espinosa.

In coordination with City Administrator Hernando Galvez, Muchada will also be the one to open the box and verify its contents.

Espinosa said unannounced drug testing will complement the drop box to ensure that no city government employee is into illegal drugs.

On Sept. 13, a casual employee was arrested with 11 others in Barangay San Jose, Arevalo district in an antidrug operation of the police.

The 37-year-old Noel Uy of Barangay General Hughes-Montes, City Proper was a member of the Iloilo City Anti-Smoking Task Force.

Espinosa warned city hall employees yesterday, be it contractual, casual or regular: “Kon makit-an namon kag ma-prove nga positive ikaw (for illegal drugs), you’ll be punished.”

Meanwhile, according to Galvez, employees refusing to undergo drug testing despite the “verified” information about him or her using illegal drugs will be “subjected to administrative proceedings.”

The refusal itself may be deemed a “grave misconduct” which carries the penalty of dismissal from service, said Galvez.

Cooperative employees who test positive, on the other hand, will be referred to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency for confirmatory tests.

These employees may also have the option to avail themselves of a “challenge test” – they may take another drug test but at their own expense.

Last month, the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) directed all police stations to make drop boxes where the public can put the names of drug personalities for the police to target.

According to Chief Superintendent Cesar Hawthorne Binag, regional police director, this new strategy is part of the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) rebooted Oplan Double Barrel, the national government’s aggressive campaign against illegal drugs.

Only the police chiefs can open the drop boxes and read the notes contained inside, stressed Binag.

He also assured the public that this new strategy won’t be abused and has safeguards.

“All the sensitive information will be validated. There will be thorough counterchecking,” said Binag.

After the information from the boxes has been verified, Binag said, “we will knock (toktok) and appeal (hangyo) the drug personalities to surrender.” Tokhang, which Oplan Double Barrel is more commonly known, is a play on these two Visayan words.

“Kasi mayroong mga takot na malaman na sila nagbigay ng information sa pulis. The drop boxes will make them open up with what they know about the activities of their neighbors,” said Binag.

The identities of persons who gave the information would be kept confidential, he stressed./PN
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