18,000 march vs drugs

LEGAZPI CITY—Over 18,000 people took to the streets here on Monday in support of the city government’s antidrug campaign amid concern over rising cases of drug use.

Carrying placards that read “No to drugs,” students, members of the academe and business community, soldiers, policemen, personnel from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and local officials from the city’s 70 barangays marched for 3 kilometers from Cabanangan Village to Peñaranda Park.

The march, dubbed “Lakad Laban sa Droga,” was meant to show that the people of Legazpi are united against illegal drugs. The participation of the public is very powerful in discouraging the youth to use or try drugs, Mayor Noel Rosal said.

“Enforcement is not enough. We, the people of Legazpi, are saying no to drugs because it is a hindrance to development. Criminality happens because of drugs,” Rosal said in Filipino.

The mayor has directed the city police to be more aggressive in going after drug peddlers and users, pointing out that many barangays were alarmed by the proliferation of prohibited drugs. All the city government’s efforts to make Legazpi progressive would come to naught if law enforcers could not lick the drug menace, he said.

Forty-eight suspected drug peddlers had been arrested since July 23 during the antidrug campaign, said Supt. Joselito Esico, city police chief. Michael B. Jaucian, Inquirer Southern Luzon