A total of 30 villages in the province have recently declared themselves as “drug-cleared” communities.
Following the outlined guidelines for the implementation of the drug-clearing program, these villages in all ten municipalities and one city of the province have accomplished the parameters set by the Dangerous Drugs Board, allowing them to be declared as “drug-cleared”.
The series of validation conducted by the Regional Oversight Committee has started on June 28 in the Municipality of Tarragona where the first two villages of Tubaon and Tomoaong were officially declared as drug-cleared with a total of 80 drug reformists. The rest of the barangays are now waiting for validation from the oversight committee before they will be formally declared cleared from drugs.
According to the Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Council (PADAC), for a barangay to be declared as “drug-cleared”, it has to fulfill the mandatory requirements set on the DDB. Among them is to plan, strategize, implement, and evaluate programs on drug abuse in the barangay. It also has to organize and equip Tanods and BADAC Auxillary Team on their roles and functions in the campaign against street level illegal drug trade through seminars and training.
Based on the guidelines, barangays should determine and maintain records of information on all drug-related incidents as well as listings of suspected drug pushers and users. They are also mandated to identify drug affected house clusters, workplaces, streets, puroks and sitios and inventory drug personalities involved in illegal drugs.
In addition to the set of parameters, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Action Officer in the province and the Chairman of the Davao Oriental Provincial Oversight Committee, Rey D. Pavillar said that a periodic monitoring of drug reformists undertaking Community-Based Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation will be conducted through random drug testing.
Relative to the nationwide anti-drug campaign of President Rodrigo Duterte, the Province of Davao Oriental under the leadership of Governor Nelson L. Dayanghirang is intensifying its efforts in fighting drugs. Just recently, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the construction of a new drug rehabilitation facility in Sitio Magay, Don Martin Marundan, City of Mati, a project funded by the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. in partnership with the Provincial Government.
To further strengthen and sustain efforts in the fight against drugs, PADAC Officer and Provincial Administrator Benjie Bulaong revealed that the Provincial Government will soon launch a new program for drug reformist dubbed as “Lihok NLD (Nagkakaisang mamamayan Laban sa Droga). The program aims to assist drug reformists in their journey towards rehabilitation and reintegration to the society.
Using a community-based treatment approach, the program will pool resources of different offices and agencies that will be delivered directly to the beneficiaries in a one-stop shop. “The program involves converging services and programs of different offices and agencies with anti-drug interventions and programs in one venue where the assistance will be delivered to the target beneficiaries,” he said.
Tarragona Mayor Nestor Uy said that in order to help drug reformists and to ultimately curb the proliferation of drug in his barangays, a livelihood program for drug reformists will soon be implemented in his town utilizing an initial fund of P 1 million from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
All Local Chief Executives of the province’s towns and cities are now doubling their efforts together with all stakeholders from the national agencies, provincial and municipal offices and local barangays for the suppression of drug abuse and trafficking. By Karen Lou Deloso
