FOR having a highly-functioning Anti-Drug Abuse Council, three local government units (LGUs) in Cebu were awarded by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) during its first National Anti-Drug Abuse Council Performance Award.
The awardees from Cebu are the Provincial Government, the Municipality of Argao and the City of Mandaue.
DILG recognized the contributions of the LGUs in planning and implementing anti-illegal drugs program.
Out of 1,715 provinces, cities and municipalities, only 241 LGUs got 85 to 100 points rating on the functionality of its Anti-Drug Abuse Council (ADAC).
Mandaue, the only city in the region that received the award, got a 93-percent rating in the functionality of its City Anti-Drug Abuse Council (CADAC) in the 2017 ADAC Performance Audit.
Mandue City Councilor Kevin Cabahug and Cebu Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Office (CPADAO) Executive Director Carmen Remedios “Ivy” Durano received the award for Mandaue City and the Capitol, respectively, during the awarding ceremony in Manila on Friday, Dec. 28.
Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna said the City Government’s support for the police in implementing Oplan Tokhang and Double Barrel Alpha is one of the reasons the City got a high score.
“The source of information from both the police and the anti-drug abuse councils in the barangays led to the surrender of thousands of people using drugs, the arrest, capture and even neutralization of the persons involved in the illegal drug trade,” said Fortuna.
Other reasons, he said, are the full activation of the Barangay Anti Drugs Abuse Councils (BADAC) in all the barangays, the regular monitoring of CADAC of the anti-drug campaign and the implementation of the community-based drug rehabilitation program.
Fortuna said the allocation of P10 million for the anti-drug program and the incentives for high-performing BADACs also helped.
For Durano, the award means CPADAO is doing its job.
In an interview yesterday, Argao Mayor Stanley Caminero said the award is a result of their efforts to rehabilitate drug surrenderers.
He said that from 2017 to 2018, a total of 929 drug surrenderers completed the Municipality’s community-based drug rehabilitation program that lasted six months.
Caminero said that unlike the other towns’ rehabilitation program, which runs for only four months, Argao’s runs for six months. On the fourth and fifth months, drug surrenderers undergo a drug test every week. On the sixth month, the drug test is done twice a week.
A day after getting the award, the Argao police caught suspected drug pusher Tocelio Dibalucos Ababon in Barangay Casay with 1.5 kilos of shabu worth P10.2 million.
The suspect is reportedly a former trusted underling of self-confessed drug lord Franz Sabalones.
For Caminero, Ababon’s arrest shows that the community is pro-active in reporting to authorities the persons involved in illegal drugs. From SCG & Fe Marie Dumaboc Of Superbalita Cebu/ LRC, KAL