Manila eyes anti-drug abuse council revitalization

Guard killed by colleague

The city of Manila is set to revitalize the anti-drug abuse councils of its 896 barangays, Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada said yesterday.

While each of the 896 barangays in the city already has an organized Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council (BADAC), Estrada noted that at least half have not been satisfactorily performing its tasks to curb drugs in their areas.

Manila-Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) head Rolynne Javier, who leads efforts to revitalize the barangay anti-drug councils, added that only about 400 BADACs are religiously submitting their monthly updated drug watch lists to MADAC and DILG-Manila, which are also being forwarded to PDEA regularly.

“Our question is: Are these BADACs still functioning well? We have to determine each council’s functionality so they need not only revitalization, but also strict assessment,” Javier said.

With this pattern, Javier admitted it will be a “real challenge” to achieve the city government’s goal of “drugfree” city by 2019 or earlier.

“We will also propose the grant of incentives and awards to topperforming BADACs as a way to encourage them to work hard,” she added.

The DILG official revealed that many barangay officials have expressed fear for their safety so they are reluctant to go all out against drugs.

Five barangay chairmen in the city have been killed by unknown assailants since January.

While police have not publicly announced the real motives behind the slayings, some of the slain barangay chiefs were noted to have been waging a determined anti-drug campaign in their communities before their deaths.

A security guard was gunned down by a fellow guard after a heated argument erupted between them in the middle of a drinking session in Marikina City over the weekend.

Police identified the victim as Randy Santos, of Pagrai, Antipolo City while the suspect was Jay Jalapadan, of Barangay Fortune, Marikina. Both guards were working for a politician, according to a police officer.

Santos and Jalapadan, according to a report, had a verbal tussle while they were drinking liquor at the house of their friend around 8 p.m. Sunday in Barangay Fortune. Police have yet to identify the motive behind the killing but said the two guards were arguing about work when the incident happened.

According to the owner of the house, Jalapadan went home after engaging Santos in a word war.

However, Jalapadan returned with a gun and shot Santos several times, probers said. Santos died on the spot after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds.

The suspect immediately fled on foot but police are now hunting him down.