ILOILO City – Are municipal and barangay drug abuse councils actively campaigning against drug trafficking?
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Region 6 will be validating the performance of these councils, according to Regional Director Wardley Getalla.
“Medyo may kahirapan dahil isa-isahin natin,” he said.
Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) director Senior Superintendent Marlon Tayaba recently lamented that some municipal and barangay drug abuse councils were non-performing.
According to Getalla, creating the councils was not enough.
“Ang pinagtatalunan ’yung active participation talaga, ‘yung kumikilos, hindi lang ‘yung nabuo lang ang council,” he stressed.
Getalla recalled that “100 percent’ of Western Visayas municipal and barangay drug abuse councils attended lectures by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on how to actively campaign against illegal drugs.
Under Memorandum Circular No. 2015-63 of the DILG issued on June 16, 2015, antidrug abuse councils have the following powers and functions:
* plan, strategize, implement, and evaluate programs and projects on drug abuse prevention
* coordinate and collaborate with other institutions implementing programs and projects on drug abuse prevention
* gather and update data on all drug-related incidents and their effects on peace and order, and come up with a list of suspected drug users and pushers
* conduct information and education campaign on illegal drugs’ demand reduction
* monitor the disposition and progress of drug-related cases filed
* organize barangay antidrug abuse council auxiliary team
* conduct regular meetings at least once a month and call for special meetings whenever necessary
* perform other related functions
According to Tayaba, several municipal and barangay antidrug abuse councils have not submitted lists of suspected drug personalities in their respective areas.
The lists would serve as bases for IPPO’s antidrug operations, he said.
The Iloilo police director, however, did not identify these inactive councils.
According to Tayaba, 827 barangays (out of 1,720 in Iloilo province) were drug-affected./PN
