BACOLOD City Mayor Evelio Leonardia submitted to Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa the accomplishment report of the city on its anti-illegal drugs campaign.
Leonardia met with Dela Rosa recently at the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame.
The accomplishment report includes the two pillars of the city’s anti-drug campaign -- the City Anti-Drug Abuse Council (Cadac) and the Community Anti-Drug Coalition of Bacolod (Cadcob), a people’s organization that helps the city on its war against drugs.
The reports of these two councils were also submitted to the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (Icad), composed of 41 government agencies.
In his report, Leoanardia said that because Bacolod City is very cooperative in the serious conduct of the National Government’s anti-drugs campaign, the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) chose Bacolod as the venue of
the Philippine celebration of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking (Idadait) on June 26, 2017.
DDB was impressed with the 17,000 Bacoleños who participated in the early morning walk and program, he said.
On March 10, the Icad chose Bacolod as one of the key cities to launch its town hall meeting called “Rehabinasyon,” a holistic approach in eliminating the country’s drug problems that put a premium on the rehabilitation of drug surrenderers.
About 400 people attended the launch, which was held at the lobby of the Bacolod City Government Center, composed of members of various sectors of the society.
Leonardia said one of the very first executive orders he issued when he became mayor again in 2016 was to re-activate the Cadac, re-aligning its composition, structures, and thrusts with that of Icad.
The city also re-activated the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Councils (Badacs) of the 61 barangays of Bacolod and supported the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) in organizing the Mamamayang Ayaw sa Anomalya, Mamamayang Ayaw sa Iligal na Droga (Masa-Masid) teams of all the 61 barangays.
As mandated by the DDB, the city focused its anti-drug campaign on barangay drug-clearing. The Oversight Committee, chaired by Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), cleared three barangays of Bacolod in 2017 and is now re-validating their drug-free status.
The Cadac, through the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) and DILG, are now processing the bid of seven more barangays for drug-free declaration.
Information and education campaign in the grassroots, schools, barangays, and other public places in the form of symposia, lectures, and other activities are regularly conducted.
“The focus of our city’s anti-drugs campaign is the barangays. We will chase drug pushers out of the barangays, rehabilitate drugs users, provide the knowledge and skills and livelihood so they can be productive members of the society again,” Leonardia told Dela Rosa in his letter.
“We will continuously educate our young about the menace or drugs, and our parents about responsible parenthood,” he added.
“We will support the moves of the DILG and the PDEA to go after barangay officials, who are not doing their anti-drug abuse campaign seriously,” he said.
“We will endeavor to declare as drug-free as many of our barangays as soon as possible,” Leonardia said. (PR)