Scorecard, incentives for Cebu towns in anti-drug program

To achieve a drug-free Cebu, towns cities and barangays will be rated and  given incentives based on their participation in an anti-drug campaign launched yesterday by the Cebu provincial government and the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (Rafi).

The program dubbed “Just Say No: Building Safe and Drug-Free Communities,” will adopt the template of the existing eGwen program, which uses a scorecard to evaluate how a town, city or barangay performs in selected criteria.

For the Just Say No program, localities will be rated based on how active are the anti-drug abuse councils down to the barangay level.

Othere criteria are policies  and legislative measures, drug- clear communities, social and support activities undertaken by the LGU, and community involvement in the enforcement of Republic Act 9165 , the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Like the eGwen program started in 2008, awards will be given to the top performing local governments. The eGwen stands for “expanded green and wholesome environment that nurtures”.

A memorandumof agreement was signed yesterday by the Capitol and Rafi.

Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said the fight against drugs “will no longer just be about information dissemination or producing posters.”

“Asa man masukod ang accountability sa matag lungsod through the scorecard system (How do we measure the accountability of each town? It will be through the scorecard system),” she said.

Deputy House Speaker Pablo Garcia was present and commended the program.

The evaluation team will be composed of the Cebu Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Commission and government line agencies including the police and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

Yesterday’s launching was timed for the observance of the International Day Against Drug Abuse./Correspondent Carmel Loise Matus