Seven Danao City barangays “drug-free”
Seven of 42 barangays of Danao City are set to be declared as drug-free as recommended by the mayor and the city police chief because no illegal drugs have been found there and they are conducting sustainable communitybased rehabilitation programs.
Chief Inspector Gerard Pelare, Danao city police chief, identified the seven as barangays Masaba, Nangka, Licos, Baliang, Cambubho, Dungga, and Quisol.
He credited this to the city’s Oplan Limpyo Danao campaign, which immediate jurisdiction is for the whole 42 barangays of Danao City.
Oplan Limpyo Danao is geared towards having Danao City completely free from all forms of illegal drugs, which Pelare said involved law enforcement; rehabilitation and drugclearing operations; and active participation of the local government units, families, and other stakeholders in the city.
Pelare said they are undertaking the challenge of making Danao drug-free city in six months.
He, however, said they were still having problems with the non-cooperation of the Barangay Anti-drug Abuse Councils of a few barangays, especially in the mountain areas.
“Sige mi og dakop, ‘nya ang BADAC dili maghimo og activity useless gihapon,” Pelare said.
To address the problem, a technical working group was created to conduct seminars and workshops in several mountain barangays of Danao.
Pelare revealed that since he assumed as city police chief last April 10, there has been a decrease in robbery and theft incidents in the city.
Senior Police Officer 1 Cherry Tapia Pañares, city police station spokesperson, said robbery and theft are commonly committed by personalities involved in illegal drugs, and since they intensified the campaign against illegal drugs, incidents went down.
Records showed that from April to September this year, 35 theft cases were reported. The figure is more than 100 percent lower than 74 cases during the same period last year. Robery cases during the same period also decreased from 27 last year to just seven this year.
The same data also showed that Danao police have so far conducted 201 operations since Pelare came. These resulted to the arrest of 204 pushers and 177 users, with 617 cases filed in court. A total of 1,269.43 grams of illegal drugs with an estimated value of P14.98 million were also confiscated.
Pañares said they have adopted a “systematic approach” in their operations, including the launching of programs to boost the morale of the policemen like the choosing of the best police officer of the week and the inclusion of the Word of God at each start of the day.
Pelare said that during their latest operations, they observed that the number of illegal drugs confiscated has also decreased compared to the first wave of Oplan Limpyo Danao operations.
“Wala nay drugs ba minus na kayo. In fact, among makuha na shabu gamay na lang kaayo unlike sa katong pagsugod namo sa Oplan Limpyo Danao, makadakop pa ta og daghan,” he said.
Recommendation papers for the naming of the seven barangays as drugfree were submitted to Cebu Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Office, which would make the official declaration only after the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-7 shall have welcomed its new regional director.