By ERWIN ‘AMBO’ DELILAN
THIS MONTH of November, illegal drug proliferation in Western Visayas is worsening.
In Bacolod City alone, the police since November 1 was able to confiscate more or less P8 million worth of shabu.
The biggest haul amounting to P3.4 was from an electronic or e-bike driver and a construction worker in Purok Kabuhi, Barangay 10, Bacolod City on November 1.
Question: Who is/are their protector/s?
Rewind: In October, at the height of the MassKara Festival in Bacolod City, daily antidrug raids and apprehensions also took the spotlight.
With more than P35 million in confiscated meth, Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) director, Colonel Joeresty Coronica, admitted they really find hard to contain the arrival of shabu shipments from Manila and Luzon, especially if they’re sent via roll-on/roll-off vessels.
The best thing they can do is being ceaseless in their day-to-day antidrug operations. Good thing, the BCPO under Coronica is doing well in this aspect.
For his part, Colonel Rainerio de Chavez, director of tge Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO), has this revelation based on their intelligence monitoring – 10 to 12 kilos of shabu enter Western Visayas monthly! Two kilos are being sent to Bacolod, some to Negros Island , while the bulk to Panay Island.
AT DOLE-6
But what’s more alarming was the November 13 report of the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) that a Government Internship Program (GIP) grantee or scholar of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Region 6 was nabbed with shabu worth P40,800.
Brigadier General Jack Wanky, director of the Police Regional Office 6, in an exclusive interview, considered the grantee’s case unique, prompting him to talk with DOLE Region 6 director, Atty. Sixto Rodriguez Jr.
Wanky said the ICPO will delve more on the grantee’s case, considering that thousands of her peers at the GIP are young, impressionable individuals susceptible to harm, and also because she’s under the GIP of the lone district congressional office of Iloilo City.
WHAT IS GIP?
GIP is a program designed by the government through DOLE that aims at providing young Filipinos with the opportunity to gain work experience in government agencies.
It is open to high school, technical-vocational, or college graduates, as well as out-of-school youth aged 18 to 30 years old only.
Program duration lasts three to six months, but grantees receive stipend and insurance.
GIP also attracts those who want to pursue a career in government. Therefore, applicants here must be screened.
Reading from online news platforms, I saw an article from RMN-Iloilo about Cong. Julienne Baronda acknowledging the failure of her office to do background check on their GIP grantees.
Now, with this case, her office will require GIP applicants to secure clearance from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and undergo a drug test.
WANKY’S MOVE
Wanky said he will get to the bottom of this case.
“I’ve instructed the ICPO to forward the case information to the region so we can study thoroughly and know more details why she was able to qualify for the GIP.”
I trust Wanky. He means what he says.
And one thing I admire about him most is his being candid – no pretension.
Wanky admitted they have difficulty averting the shabu trade in Western Visayas, especially in the two highly urbanized Iloilo and Bacolod cities.
Supply reduction, he said, can be contained with their daily or weekly arrests, yet, the demand for shabu is rising, especially as the holiday season draws near.
Examined by Wanky, the numbers of arrest and volumes of confiscation aren’t the determinants for a successful antidrug campaign.
“We want the cooperation of local officials through an effective information drive on how to contain the spread of shabu or any illegal drugs,” he said.
Data from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Region 6 showed that as of August 31, 2024 a total of 3,776 out of 4,051 barangays in Western Visayas (including Negros Occidental and Bacolod) were already classified as drug-cleared, or drug-free.
The drug case of a GIP grantee is an eye opener. Sad, and bad!/PN
