Monday, December 11, 2006 Education execs to shed light on drug scene By Danilo V. Adorador III
CONTINUING its investigation on the scale of illegal drug operations in the city, the City Council will hear Monday the regional director of the Department of Health (DOH), whose survey reportedly placed Cagayan de Oro City at the top of the list for drug abuse among high school students.
DOH Regional Director Julito Sabornido was expected to appear along with Estrella Abid-Babano, regional director of the Department of Education (DepEd) and Edna Maghinay, City Schools Division officer-in-charge.
According to the City Council agenda bulletin, the three officials were being summoned to "shed light, in aid of legislation, regarding the DOH research" which purportedly showed that "Region 10, particularly Cagayan de Oro City, tops the list for illegal drug use among high school students."
That report presumably appeared in the November 16 issue of the Philippine Star, but a follow-up by this paper showed that neither Cagayan de Oro City nor any particular place was mentioned in the article.
However, Vice Mayor Michelle Spiers explained that Cagayan de Oro was later mentioned in a current affairs program over ABS-CBN an evening after the publication.
The report said that about 160,000 or nearly one percent of the country's 20 million high school students have used drugs.
Sabornido and the two other education officials are expected to elucidate the extent of illegal drug use among students, and whether the media reports on the matter were accurate.
The legislative inquiry on illegal drugs started last week after Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, citing well-placed intelligence, said Cagayan de Oro City is being used as a "transit point" of illegal drug couriers.
Superintendent Nerio Bermudo, head of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) who was grilled for hours by councilors, assailed Duterte's statement, and denied any knowledge of the DOH survey pointing to the alleged mounting drug abuse among high school students.
The response irritated councilors who demanded Bermudo to review PDEA's assessment of illegal drug activities in the city, and to enforce "concrete actions" against drug trafficking.
Following the City Council inquiry, police raided last Tuesday a drug den in Barangay 21, one of the two areas authorities said where drug trafficking is prevalent.
Four residents were arrested while having a "pot-session," said PO2 Nolasco Gaabucayan of Cogon Police.
Spiers said she will sponsor a resolution commending the police officers who conducted the operation.
Village leader Modesto Ligtas, whose area in Barangay 35 is known for rampant illegal drug trade, believes Duterte's statement to be reliable, citing the situation in his own barangay.
Ligtas identified Garcia and Don Ramon Chavez streets as "peddling areas" in his barangay -- the illegal drugs being supplied by a Maranao trader from Marawi, re-packed near a mosque in said area and distributed by runners.
Citing unnamed sources within the barangay, he said the illegal drugs are stashed in a truckload of sacks of ginger (luy-a), hauled and repacked in Cagayan de Oro for eventual delivery and distribution in Davao City using the Bukidnon route.
