BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan was deeply saddened after President Rodrigo R. Duterte and Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director-General Ronald dela Rosa temporarily suspended the government’s anti-drug campaign saying that what should have been done was to cleanse the police of corrupt and inept policemen who already have derogatory records.
The local chief executive said the government’s anti-drug campaign was on its right track except for the recent issues that cropped up that cast doubts on the integrity and credibility of the police in handling drug cases.
“The PNP should not totally put a stop to its anti-drug campaign because this sends a worng message to those who have not yet given up illegal trade and this could result in the re-establishment of illegal drug trade in our city,” Domogan stressed.
In the city alone, there are already 2,394 drug surrenderers with 406 pushers and 1,988 users from July 1, 2016, up to the date when the government’s anti-drug campaign was suspended.
Further, there are already 208 individuals who had been arrested in legitimate police operations composed of 184 pushers and 24 users during the said period.
According to him, the government’s anti-drug campaign contributed to the significant reduction in the volume and type of crimes committed in the different parts of the city because of the arrests made against the individuals involved in the illegal drug trade.
Domogan warned individuals who continue to engage in the illegal drug trade as their source of livelihood to immediately refrain from doing so because it is possibile their lives will be exposed to extreme danger, especially when they try to fight back with the authorities apprehending them.
He explained those involved in the use and peddling of illegal drugs could also be the ones committing petty crimes around the city because of their need for money to sustain their vice, thus, the significant reduction of the drug supply in the market contributed in their abandonment of the life-threatening vice.
Domogan remains optimistic that the personnel of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) can sustain the aggressiveness of the police in the anti-drug campaign so that those who already abandoned their involvement to the illegal drug trade will not be enticed back to their old ways.
He called on barangay officials in the city’s 128 barangays to continue to be vigilant for a possible resurgence of peddlers of illegal drugs as this might result in the withdrawal of the certification that their barangays are already drug-cleared, citing that some 109 barangays are already considered drug-cleared while 19 other barangays remain to be drug-affected.
By Dexter A. See
