THE Cebu Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Office (CPadao) disputed results of the interior department naming two towns in Cebu as violators in the implementation of anti-drug abuse councils (Adacs).
The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Wednesday, March 27, filed administrative charges against 50 town mayors and a governor, including three Cebu mayors, for failure to organize and activate Adacs in their areas of responsibility.
These towns were San Fernando and San Francisco and Toledo City.
The CPadao in a statement issued on Thursday, March 28, cited that it is only Toledo City which is “non-compliant” while San Fernando and San Francisco “have organized and functional Adacs.”
The result was based on Cpadao’s audit conducted in 2017 (which is the basis of the DILG audit) through its Capitol initiated evaluation program called Sugbo Kontra Droga or Sukod.
The statement said the Cebu Provincial Government initiated its own “systematic Adac monitoring and performance management system” even before the conduct of last year’s DILG audit.
“The Sukod evaluation program sets performance indicators to measure the functionality of the Adacs and effectiveness of the implementation of mandated anti-drug programs,” it said.
Earlier, San Francisco Mayor Aly Arquillano said he found the charges confusing considering that his town was cleared by the Cpadao last year.
Toledo City Mayor John Henry Osmeña for his part denied his Adacs are “non funcitonional.”
San Fernando Mayor Lakambini Reluya on Thursday said, she is taking full responsibility of the audit result but will write the DILG why her town got a low score when it undertook programs to address the drug problem.
The DILG conducted its first Adac Performance Audit last year which was based on the audit year 2017.
But the results apparently did not jive.
The Cpadao statement however quoted DILG Cebu Provincial Director Jerome Gonzales that the discrepancies “were partly due to the difference in the evaluation process and in the time constraints” of the city and or municipal local government offices in the submission of documents to the DILG provincial level.
In a separate interview, Gonzales told SunStar Cebu said they have yet to receive a copy of the DILG-Manila report but he assured that they have guided local government units (LGUs) in their anti-illegal drug campaign.
He said that all LGU mayors, at the start of their term, are required to submit their list of special bodies with their new officers.
He said since Adac is not a special body, the DILG has a memorandum circular for this which was issued on June 16, 2015. Under Memorandum Circular No. 2015-63 issued by then DILG Secretary Mar Roxas, it required all LGUs to revitalize their Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Councils (Badacs) and their role in drug clearing operations.
‘Low functionality’
The DILG Audit which is based on the audit year 2017 cited San Francisco and Toledo City as “non-compliant” while San Fernando scored 32 which is equivalent “to low functionality.”
For her part, Reluya convened on Thursday morning the Municipal Peace and Order Council (MPOC) and Municipal Anti-Drug Abuse Council (MADAC) and showed “voluminous” documents as proof of the functionality of the town’s Adac.
She, however, took “full responsibility” of the town’s low functionality rating but questioned how the town got low scores when there are documents to prove it otherwise.
As it is, the mayor found out that the documents and reports did not reach the DILG.
Reluya said she will write to the DILG about this.
She also warned the local government units (LGU) department heads, officers and workers not to jeopardize her administration or she will be forced to take drastic actions.
Failure
The Cpadao in the same statement cited an interview with DILG Asec. Ricojudge Echiverri saying that the municipalities facing administrative complaint failed to allocate budget for anti-drug abuse programs or failed to implement community-based rehabilitation program.
But Cpadao said that as early as 2015, the Provincial Government passed a resolution mandating all local chief executives to strictly include anti-drug programs in their annual budget.
The municipalities of San Fernando and San Franciso and Toledo City have complied with the said resolution allocating budget for their anti-drug abuse programs from 2016 to present, it said.
In addition, both San Fernando and San Francisco have implemented Community Based Rehabilitation Program (CBRP) with enrollees and completers from 2017 to present, CPadao further said. (VLA with reports from EOB and JKV)