ADDRESSING HIGH DRUG RATE A ‘CHALLENGE’

Association of Barangay Councils- Cebu City asks barangays to activate their Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council, the first line of defense against the illegal drug trade.

Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III said the pronouncement of President Rodrigo Duterte that Cebu has the highest illegal drug rate in the entire country should be taken as a challenge.

He said he was not insulted by it, adding that it should stir the local government officials and law enforcers to do more in the fight against illegal drugs.

“Why would we be insulted? That’s a challenge for us. We have to work harder,” he said.

In his speech during the 10th Philippine Councilors’ League in Pasay City last Wednesday, Duterte said that Cebu’s illegal drug rate is at 60 to 70 percent.

But the governor said that Duterte may have erred in the figure he presented.

“It does not mean that 70 percent of the Cebuanos are drug us- ers. Maybe he is referring to the barangays. But I think we have reduced that because of the operations of the police,” he said.

Davide disclosed that more than 80 percent of the villages in the province are involved in illegal drugs.

Like Davide, Acting Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella said that Duterte’s pronouncement should be taken as a challenge.

He said it takes a collective effort of all stakeholders to solve the drug problem.

“Whether the drug rate is high or low, it doesn’t make any difference. The fact is that there is an illegal drug problem that should be addressed by all of us,” he said.

While he commends the police and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 7 for doing a “good job” in the government’s war against drugs, Labella said there are still a lot of work to be done that could not be achieved by the authorities alone.

With that, Labella said the City Council will call for a drug summit that will be participated in by the academe, the business sector, civic organizations, authorities, parents, and religious groups to discuss the problem.

“This should serve as a wake up call to all of us. Let’s not be discouraged,” he said.

Apas Barangay Captain Ramil Ayuman, vice chairperson of the Association of Barangay Councils (ABC), urged the barangays to activate their Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council (BADAC), which serves as the first line of defense against the proliferation of drugs in the community.

In a earlier report, Police Regional Office 7 Director Chief Supt. Noli Taliño said that all 80 barangays in Ceby City were affected by illegal drugs.

The Cebu City Office for Substance Abuse Prevention, for its part, also revealed that from 2015, none of the 80 barangays have been declared as a drug-free workplace.

Ayuman said the ABC have been holding monthly meetings with the Cebu City Police Office to solve the problem in the barangay level. /