Antidrug drive shifts to village watchmen

Policemen assist confessed drug users and pushers during a mass surrender ceremony in Lucena City. —DELFIN T. MALLARI JR.

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—The crackdown on illegal drugs is shifting to 4,000 of 20,000 village watchmen and officials in Pampanga province after intelligence reports have linked them to drug pushing.

“We should focus on them now,” Gov. Lilia Pineda told the provincial peace and order council meeting here recently.

The new antidrug campaign covers members of Bantay Bayan and barangay tanod as well as appointed and elected barangay leaders.

Barangay leaders who fail to keep their areas drug-free face administrative charges, according to Myrvi Fabia, provincial director of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Administrative cases against barangay volunteers and leaders should be initiated by mayors at the local councils while criminal cases should be filed by the police in regular courts, Fabia said.

The crackdown, in effect, helps villages determine whether they are drug-free or not.

However, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Central Luzon has yet to convene an oversight committee at the regional and provincial levels to validate the drug-free status of villages as certified by the local police and mayors, PDEA regional director, Juvenal Azurin, said.

The oversight committee is chaired by PDEA, cochaired by the DILG and with members from the police, Department of Health and local governments.

“While [barangay antidrug abuse councils] generate the watch list, the oversight committee confirms the situation at the grassroots,” Azurin said.

“The drug-free status is not forever,” he said to emphasize the need for continuing vigilance.

The crime rate in Pampanga grew slightly by 1.16 percent, from 3,369 to 3,408 cases from January to April, according to the police.

The cities of Mabalacat and San Fernando, and the towns of Guagua and Mexico reported more arrests of suspected drug users and pushers from March 6 to May 15, compared with other towns. —TONETTE OREJAS