AT LEAST 2,000 participants joined the “Lakad (Lipunin at Kalampagin Ang Droga) Tokhang” in Bacolod City on February 24.
Participants included personnel of Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) and Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (Nocppo), as well as local government and barangay officials, teachers, representatives of other law enforcement units and volunteer groups.
They marched from the Bacolod public plaza toward the Provincial Capitol Lagoon for the signing of the pledge of commitment led by Mayor Evelio Leonardia and Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, with Senior Superintendent Rodolfo Castil Jr., director of Nocppo, and Senior Superintendent Francisco Ebreo, officer-in-charge of BCPO.
The simultaneous nationwide activity was considered a “People’s Walk” in support of the police’s intensified campaign against illegal drugs and part of the relaunching of Oplan Tokhang.
Superintendent Placido Gentoleo, head of Police Community Relations of BCPO, said 500 force multipliers joined the activity, while personnel of all 10 police stations and those assigned at the BCPO headquarters also participated.
Inspector Charmae de Paz, public information officer of Nocppo, said 106 policemen from Nocppo and 76 force multipliers joined the activity.
De Paz said the activity aims to generate support from stakeholders in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City to raise the level of awareness of the public on the ill-effects of dangerous drugs.
It is also a way of showing the public that the police are serious in their campaign to really eradicate illegal drugs in the society, she added.
For his part, Ebreo expressed his gratitude to everyone who supported the activity.