Intensified anti-drug ops in villages urged as poll nears

TACLOBAN CITY, March 21  -- The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) has asked local officials to step up the campaign against illegal drugs if they want to increase their chances to be re-elected in the upcoming village polls.

PDEA Eastern Visayas Regional Director Edgar Jubay said village officials should not stop eliminating the drug menace for fear of losing in the upcoming local elections.

“Many people will vote for their incumbent village official if they are functional members of Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council (BADAC) because drug dependents have been rehabilitated and drug pushers stop selling illegal drugs in their communities. People want peaceful communities,” Jubay said on Wednesday.

Considered as the first line of defense against the proliferation of prohibited drugs in the community, BADAC primarily consists of village officials and local sectoral representatives having first-hand information about the members of the community.

The PDEA regional chief made the statement after some village officials in this city have expressed fears of losing in the village polls if big time traders would use drug money to boost the campaign of their rivals.

Last year, President Rodrigo R. Duterte approved the postponement of village polls amid fears that drug money would be used in the elections. The village poll is scheduled on May 14, 2018.

“In the past, we were scared to do something to stop illegal drugs in our area that is why drugs proliferated. Now, we have no reason to fear because anti-drugs program is a priority of President Duterte as well as our national government agencies, governors, and mayors,” Jubay added.

As of last month, 2,348 out of 4,390 villages in the region remained drug affected, according to PDEA. At least 74 villages have been cleared from the drug list.

Last year, close to 700 villages were declared as drug-cleared by PDEA, including several villages in Tacloban, the regional capital.

Tacloban City became the first highly urbanized city in the Visayas to be declared drug-cleared last December.

Declaring an area as drug-cleared means non-availability of drug supply; absence of drug den, pusher, and user; absence of clandestine drug laboratory; active involvement of village officials in anti-drug activities; existence of drug awareness, preventive education and information; and existence of voluntary and compulsory drug treatment and rehabilitation processing desk. (SQM/PNA)