■ PAJO OFFICIAL MARKS RENTED ROOMS ‘IDENTIFIED AS DRUG DENS’

The barangay captain of Pajo, Lapu-Lapu City has started a shame campaign against drug personalities by marking the rooms of four rented houses in Sitio Kamanggahan that were identified as a drug den. In the same activity yesterday, Senior Supt. Rommel Cabagnot, director of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office (LCPO), persuaded nine drug users to surrender. Rudy Lareno, 70, owner of the four structures that were rented by alleged drug personalities, had asked the barangay and the police for help. He said he could no longer sleep at night since several persons went in and out of the four rooms. Yesterday, Pajo Barangay Captain Junard Chan brought to the rooms a cardboard where he had spray-painted the words “identified drug den area.”

The barangay captain of Pajo, Lapu-Lapu City started a shame campaign against drug personalities by marking the rooms of four rented houses in Sitio Kamanggahan as a drug den.

In the same activity yesterday, Senior Supt. Rommel Cabagnot, director of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office (LCPO), was able to convince nine drug users to surrender.

Rudy Lareno, 70, owner of the four structures rented by alleged drug personalities, asked the assistance of the barangay and the LCPO.

He said he can no longer sleep at night since several persons go in and out of the rooms.

Yesterday, Pajo Barangay Captain Junard Chan brought a cardboard and wrote the words “identified drug den area” with a spray paint.

He hung the marking on the rooms’ door so everyone would know that the person inside the rooms uses illegal substances.

Chan, in an interview, said they did everything to help drug personalities reform and reminded them several times to stop their illegal activities, but they did not heed the barangay’s request.

“The drug personalities who were staying in the rooms were already arrested before, yet they continued their illegal activities. We’ve had enough. So this is our way of ending what they are doing. Hopefully, they will feel ashamed,” he said.

Cabagnot said one of the problems in Sitio Kamanggahan is the drug personalities’ practice of using rented rooms as drug dens.

Lareno said he can no longer control the activities of the rooms’ occupants because of his age.

“We gathered nine persons from those rooms who are involved in illegal drugs. They admitted that they have been using illegal drugs so we asked them, through our Tokhang program, to surrender,” said Cabagnot.

The drug personalities are expected to surrender to the LCPO within the week. /