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[av_heading heading=’PDEA dared: Name brgy captains into drugs’ 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 – The Liga ng mga Barangay (LNB) Iloilo City chapter challenged the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Region 6 to name the barangay captains involved in the illegal drug trade.
“They must be named. A sweeping accusation is unfair to those not involved in drug trafficking,” said Barangay Captain Reyland Hervias, Liga president.
According to PDEA Region 6 spokesperson David Abraham Garcia, some barangay officials were merely pretending to be supportive of the campaign against illegal drugs.
These officials were either users, pushers or coddlers of drug traffickers, he said.
Iloilo City has 180 barangay captains.
Hervias did not discount the possibility that some barangay officials may indeed be into illegal drugs. But he said it would be an injustice to the innocent ones if PDEA won’t identify those involved.
Garcia did not say how many are into illegal drugs. “We are monitoring their movements,” was all he said.
Some, he added, are “indirectly” involved through their relatives.
“They’re not reproving their erring relatives and they don’t include them in their Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council list of drug personalities,” said Garcia.
Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog recently raised concern over barangay captains lukewarm to the city government’s drug rehabilitation program.
In a reorientation and strengthening of Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Councils at the Jaro covered gym, he lamented that only a few participated in drug rehabilitation sessions and he took to task barangay officials.
The Iloilo City Police Office reported a total of 2,595 drug surrenderees.
PDEA also knew of barangay councilmen involved in illegal drugs, he revealed.
“We are finding ways to take them down,” said Garcia without elaborating.
In a related development, Tanza Esperanza village chief Noel Odicta led the dismantling Wednesday last week of two houses in his barangay suspected as drug dens.
The houses remained unoccupied during daytime after police started its Oplan Double Barrel against illegal drugs. However, there were reports that several suspected as shabu users were at the houses, especially during the evenings.
Barangay Tanza Esperanza in the City Proper here was identified by the local police and the PDEA as having a serious drug affectation.
The punong barangay said it was about time the village gets rid of its image as drug- infested community.
Barangay Captain Odicta is the younger brother of slain suspected drug lord Melvin Odicta. He told relatives and constituents to move on and cleanse their place of illegal drugs.
The younger Odicta also reiterated his barangay council’s cooperation with the police in making their village peaceful and drug-free. (With a report from the Philippine News Agency/PN)
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