CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- An official of Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) said Saturday that “guerilla warfare” tactics would be the key to winning the fight against drug abuse.

DDB Vice-Chair and Undersecretary Clarence Paul Oaminal noted that a number of barangays have been affected by drugs and that there is now a need for a counter-insurgency type of campaign intended to win the hearts of the people.

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Oaminal said the DDB will lead and highlight this move during the observance of the Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Week this November 16 to 20 themed “Kilos Pamayanan! Sa droga patuloy na lumaban.”

Oaminal said local government units, allied government agencies, the academe, civic groups and other concerned groups must by now be prepared for the observance of the drug abuse prevention and control week and should avoid employing the “old habit” of fighting drug abuse with “grandiose rallies and seminars.”

He said unconventional activities must instead be conducted, adding that the “guerilla” type of campaign is less costly but more effective.

“With this type, you don’t have to spend for expensive venues, sound systems and food for the participants and speakers. The battlefields in the war against drugs are the barangays, puroks, sitios, and families. You don’t solve it by talking only to the non-users, professional groups and responsible students and civic groups but to the very source of the problem, the users and pushers and those youth at risk of becoming drug users,” Oaminal said.

He said the government must now go to where the problem is, with drug abuse prevention lectures and “pulong-pulong” to be conducted in the area where there are drug users and pushers and personally convince them to stop using drugs.

“This is the only way of hitting the jugular veins of the syndicate and stop the users from using drugs. The best way is talking directly to the users, their families and educating the neighborhood,” Oaminal said.