By Jade C. Zaldivar
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA noted an 11.03 increase in drug arrests made on Region 11 from January to April of this year compared to the same period last year.
In the first four months of this year there were 161 drug offenders arrested while there were only 145 in 2011 in the same period.
PDEA 11 officer in charge Emerson Rosales said the number of cases filed is higher as one drug offender may have as many as three cases filed against him or her.
Rosales attributed the increase in arrests to the proliferation of drugs in the region during the early months of the year.
“Tumaas ang presence ng drugs as per our monitoring. Tumaas ang activities related to drugs,” he said.
Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said the same thing in previous months, adding that the city is among the areas in the country where drug is trafficked due to the high population and economic activity.
“We increased our operations. Even without advisory we would have done the same. So we had more operations which led to a higher apprehension rate compared to last year,” Rosales said.
He also noted the higher frequency in number of reports from civilians.
“More than the previous years we noticed higher cooperation from civilians. More and more are calling us or texting us to report drug activities. We can say that Dabawenyos are really against drugs,” he said.
“Another point of interest is we also have a Facebook page and the reports we get from there is actually very high,” he added.
The PDEA in charge then advised that concerned citizens report activities related to drugs.
“Ang droga salot talaga yan eh. Ayaw niyong maging magulo ang mga komunidad ninyo. Drug addicts or pushers only cause disruption sa maayos na pamumuhay ng mga tao who chose to live according to law,” he said.
Rosales said PDEA 11 can be reached through mobile, telephone, and through the internet.
For Davao City, reports may be forwarded to 0939-443-3405; 0915-896-2599; and 0933-148-1387 and through landline (082) 222-3045.
Assigned numbers for provinces are: mobile no. 0918-669-8470 for Davao del Sur; 0917-720-0485 for Davao del Norte; and 0908-287-5092 for Davao Oriental.
PDEA 11 may also be reached through www.facebook.com/PDEAXI.
