CONCERNED parents, not barangay officials, gave the information that led to the fall of a drug den, the rescue of five boys in a pot session, and arrest of 11 adults in Barangay Duljo Fatima, Cebu City last Friday night, a police official said.
Supt. Romeo Santander, City Intelligence Branch (CIB) chief, said that no Duljo Fatima official communicated with the police before they received tips from the parents about the illegal activities.
In July last year, he recalled, no barangay official signed the search warrant used during an anti-illegal drug operation.
Santander said that Duljo-Fatima officials may be afraid that their information would leak to some police operatives who are suspected of protecting illegal activities.
But all barangays need to campaign against illegal drugs, said Cebu City Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella, who found it “disturbing” that
among those found using drugs during the raid were five boys, all minors.
No more than 30 meters separate the drug den from the barangay hall.
“The buy-bust operation last Friday in Barangay Duljo should serve as a wake-up call not only to police authorities and City officials, but most importantly, parents,” he said.
The vice mayor, who presides over the Police Coordinating and Advisory Council (PCAC), wants the barangays to organize their own summits, involving parents, against drugs.
Caretakers
The matter is expected to be tackled during the PCAC meeting tomorrow.
“Parents should be made conscious of their moral and legal obligations to take care and monitor their children,” Labella said.
When CIB operatives raided the drug den last Friday night, they arrested its alleged caretaker, Janet Suarez Domin. That was just a
day after Domin attended her daughter’s high school graduation.
Five boys, who sell newspapers in downtown Cebu City, were caught using drugs with adults Jerry Ybañez, Roger Abellanosa, Julius Atillo, Velvic Tabasa, Christian Aguilos, Christian Bautista, and Aldwin Abejo.
The minors were turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Services for counseling.
The CIB confiscated 253 small sachets of shabu worth P80,000, a .22 caliber revolver with three bullets, and P530 cash from Domin, a resident of Barangay Mambaling, Cebu City.
Domin’s alleged fellow caretakers Josefa Tabasa, 50; and Beryl Loren Pane, 27; and the den’s guard Sally Mangolori, 41, were also arrested.
Parents
Criminal complaints will be filed against them today before the Office of Cebu City Prosecutor for violating Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Santander’s deputy, Insp. Gomersendo Mandawe, said that two parents called the CIB office and told them about the drug den two weeks
ago.
“Ang mga silingan ang mireklamo kay ang ilang mga anak dili ma mo-eskwela, di na mouli sa balay, ug di na sakto og kaon. Naungo na didto (The neighbors complained because their children had cut classes, refused to go home, and ate poorly. They were hooked),” he said in a separate phone interview.
Mandawe said he also wondered why the parents did not report to the barangay officials.
The Cebu City Government previously conducted an anti-illegal drugs summit that involved students from different universities, parents, police officials and other stakeholders.
Vice Mayor Labella believes such an activity should be done in the barangays.
“The police and City officials can’t solve this social menace alone,” he said. “Parents and children should be made aware of the ill effects of the use of illegal drugs.”