By MAE SINGUAY
BACOLOD City — Leading the campaign against illegal drugs, city government officials will undergo a drug test soon, Mayor Monico Puentevella announced.
Random drug testing will also be carried out among officials of the 61 barangays here, Puentevella said during yesterday’s orientation on Barangay Drug-Clearing Operations at the People’s House.
Illegal drugs are his No. 1 enemy, according to the mayor.
“I can forgive other (offenses), but not illegal drugs,” he stressed. “Pushers and financiers have no conscience. They are not humans. They are demons.”
A family gets destroyed even if just one member gets involved in illegal drugs, said Puentevella, chair of the City Anti-Drug Abuse Council.
“I have nephews who were taken to Cebu for (drug) rehabilitation,” he revealed. “Some of them have recovered, others have not.”
Puentevella also said he has asked Senior Superintendent Pedrito Escarilla, city police officer-in-charge, to let him join drug buy-bust operations.
Among the city hall officials who will undergo drug test are the mayor, Vice Mayor Greg Gasataya and the city councilors.
Puentevella did not disclose when the drug testing will be conducted.
Also present during the orientation were Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) director general Arturo Cacdac Jr. and PDEA regional director Paul Ledesma, barangay officials, school heads, policemen, and private sector representatives.
PLAN OF ACTION
PDEA, Department of Interior and Local Government–Bacolod, and the city government initiated the orientation.
Cacdac said the demand for drugs may be reduced if families are aware of their destructive effects.
Teachers and barangay tanods are “agents of people in authority” who should relay drug threats, while policemen should instigate “supply reduction,” he said.
“Map each barangay, plot your action, and pinpoint potential users and pushers, and coordinate with the local police,” he said.
Cacdac also said he is pushing for drug-free workplaces, wherein a company and its employees must agree on the conduct of annual drug testing.
He suggested to the City Council to pass a resolution that seeks the enforcement of anti-drug rules among professionals.
A signing of a covenant against illegal drugs followed the orientation.
AWARD
Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) recently received a Notable Accomplishment on Drug Apprehension award from the Police Regional Office 6.
The award proves that BCPO has “the most number of apprehensions related to illegal drugs” among police stations in Western Visayas, Escarilla said.
Senior Inspector Jose Mulleta, chief of the City Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Group, received the award at the regional police headquarters in Camp Martin Delgado, Iloilo City./PN
