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[av_heading heading=’ PDEA-6 chief praises Mabilog’s ‘drug war’ ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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ILOILO City – What happened a year after President Rodrigo Duterte branded Iloilo as the “most shabu-lized” in the country?
According to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Region 6, the illegal drugs supply in Iloilo dropped significantly.
Regional Director Gil Pabilona cited Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog for mobilizing barangay officials in the campaign against drug trafficking.
On Aug. 7, 2016, Duterte publicly named and shamed not only Iloilo but also Mabilog as an illegal drugs protector, a charge that the mayor vehemently denied.
“Mayor Mabilog responded positively to the depiction of Iloilo as most shabu-lized by mounting a sustained effort to combat illegal drugs,” said Pabilona.
The “drug drug supply is much less” compared to last year, he added but without giving figures.
Pabilona also noted a decline in the number of drug personalities.
“There are still arrests, but these have become fewer and fewer,” he said.
Pabilona said the campaign against illegal drugs became even stronger after Mabilog launched a scheme to reimburse expenses of law enforcers conducting buy-bust operations.
It is important that the illegal drug trade in this southern city is minimized because it is “the center of gravity” for narcotics, he stressed.
“Once we succeed in neutralizing the illegal drugs business in the city, everything else will follow,” said Pabilona.
The Iloilo City Police Office recently reported a drop in crimes. Mabilog attributed this to the campaign against illegal drugs.
“If we are free from illegal drugs and Iloilo City is drug-cleared, then our peace and order situation will further improve. The crime volume will continue to drop,” said Mabilog.
Pabilona also cited Mabilog for exerting pressure barangay officials to closely monitor the activities of drug personalities in their respective areas.
Iloilo City is the first city to have a drug dependent treatment and rehabilitation program, he added.
The city government, through its community-based rehabilitation programs being implemented by the City Health Office and the Police Regional Office 6 has rehabilitated some 1,200 drug dependents out of the 3,180 drug surrenderers in the metro.
“The rehabilitation program is fully subsidized by the city government,” said Mabilog.
The city’s intervention, in cooperation with government agencies and private groups here, does not stop in the provision of rehabilitation program. Part of the post-care support are skills training for free at the Technical Institute of Iloilo City, in partnership with Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), provision of Livelihood Starter Kits from the Department of Labor and Employment and TESDA, entrepreneurial assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development and capitalization fund from the city government, among others.
Mabilog said drug surrenderers in the metro were less than one percent of its 449,000 population.
The mayor is hopeful that President Duterte will see the “real picture” of the illegal drugs problem in the metro, and how it is being addressed by the city government. (With a report from the Iloilo City PIO/PN)
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