Tuesday, December 05, 2006 Drug agency: Davao mayor is misinformed on Oro By Danilo V. Adorador III
HE WENT to the City Council to shed light on reports of mounting illegal drug trade in Cagayan de Oro, but the head of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Northern Mindanao instead got a mouthful from unimpressed councilors.
Councilors lectured PDEA Northern Mindanao chief Nerio Bermudo on the scale of drug abuse in the city, and peppered him with questions pointing to the agency's wanting performance against the drug menace, which councilors say was already alarming and has already gained national attention.
Bermudo was invited to the regular Monday session to clarify reports pointing Cagayan de Oro as drug route in this part of the country.
Also, PDEA's alleged lukewarm approach on filed drug-related cases, the purported government survey showing Cagayan de Oro as having the most number of drug abusers among high school population, and the prevalence of drug trafficking in at least two barangays.
Early in his explanation, Bermudo -- armed with statistics showing the agency's purported accomplishments -- initially dismissed all of the reports, but changed tack when councilors assailed his data and started attacking PDEA's ability to assess drug abuse problems in the city.
Bermudo said Davao City Mayor Duterte, who earlier claimed the city serves as a transit point for drug couriers in Mindanao, was either misinformed or had been pointing to the situation in 2004, during which several "shabu" laboratories were raided in the neighboring Alubijid and Opol municipalities.
To show that drug abuse problems have actually ebbed, Bermudo cited the agency data showing that in 2005, there was a total of 667 drug-related cases, compared to the 301 cases filed this year.
Of this number, 146 were suspected drug users and 224 were suspected drug traffickers.
PDEA has detained total 117 suspects of various drug charges, 10 of them were arrested in Cagayan de Oro, Bermudo said.
The numbers, however, did not convince the councilors.
"That the number of arrested drug pushers outnumbered the arrested users indicates that PDEA-Northern Mindanao should make more arrests," said Councilor Alvin Calingin.
The drop in the number of filed cases this year also shows that less drug traffickers and users were arrested compared last year, Calingin added.
Councilor Maryanne Enteria, meanwhile, scolded the PDEA official for "depending only on statistics and failing to propose concrete solutions."
Enteria also advised Bermudo to verify Duterte's statement "rather than discredit this claim and pass the buck on others."
Councilor Jose Benjamin Benaldo, for his part, said a holistic approach -- involving all sectors in the society -- would ensure an effective and sustainable campaign against drug abuse.
Councilor Juan Sia went as far as saying that a shoot-to-kill order "must br implemented against all drug lords.
