Campaign vs illegal drugs resumes

THE Davao City Police Office (DCPO) resumes Monday its "Oplan Tokhang (Toktok Hangyo)," a house-to-house campaign against illegal drugs, in another slum area believed to be teeming with drug pushers.

DCPO chief Ronald dela Rosa said they will extensively implement "Oplan Tokhang" or the "toktok hangyo sa kabalayan sa mga suspected drug pushers (visit in houses of suspected drug pushers)" in all the barangays as much as possible to totally eradicate drug proliferation in the city.

Dela Rosa said the proactive drug eradication operation aims "to gain more public support and add more pressure to other barangay officials to do the same."

Today’s visitation will be the third for this month.

The DCPO earlier conducted its house-to-house visit in Barangay 23-C last February 13 and Muslim Village, Barangay Ilang, Bunawan, Davao City last February 18.

The DCPO planned to spray houses of suspected drug pushers with red paints during the operation in Barangay 23-C but did not push through after the Police Regional Office (PRO) cautioned dela Rosa.

The DCPO instead went to the barangays where drug pushers are identified and knocked on their daughters to talk with them and tell them to stop their trade.

While there is no guarantee that pushers visited will stop pushing drugs, the visitation itself is a way of telling the pushers that their activities are known to law enforcers.

The operation was initiated when Davao City Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte warned Barangay 23-C chair Amilbangsa Manding to clear his area of drug peddlers.
Manding submitted to dela Rosa a list consisting of 77 suspected drug peddlers in his area, 16 of whom are his relatives.

Although the DCPO decided not to push through with the spray painting, Manding painted an ‘X’ mark on his house, saying it was once transformed into a boarding house where drug pushers reside there.

In its second house-to-house visit, the DCPO went to Barangay Ilang where they confronted five out of 34 suspected drug pushers.

The three of the five even admitted they were involved in the illegal trade in the city, dela Rosa said.

Barangay Ilang chief Romeo Cabling said they will continue to monitor the drug suspects who have not yet been confronted.

During the Oplan Tokhong in the two barangays, those who are in the roster of drug peddlers were not around as their houses were already padlocked, while others have just gone somewhere.

The DCPO chief said they have already advised relatives of the suspects to tell those involved to go to the DCPO.

"Let us do our share in making Davao City drug-free," dela Rosa said Sunday.