ILOILO City – The Philippine Drug Enforcement (PDEA) Region 6 has launched an advocacy program dubbed “Oplan Kalasag” to promote drug-free workplaces in this city.
PDEA-6 director Alex Tablate, who led the launch on Friday at Jerry Treña’s Hall in Mulley Lonney here, said the advocacy campaign engages the management of hotels, restaurants, bars, condominiums, subdivisions, and warehouses, including security agencies to enforce their own drug-free workplace program.
Based on past PDEA operations, clandestine laboratories and storage facilities for illegal drugs were dismantled inside subdivisions and condominiums. Illegal drug transactions are actually happening discreetly inside hotel rooms, restaurants and bars.
This project, according to Tablate, is part of their campaign against illegal drugs and he wants establishment owners and businessmen in the metro to implement a drug-free workplace policy.
“To eradicate illegal drugs, we need a holistic approach. We need others to be more involved, especially business establishment owners because drug transactions are now being done in hotels, condominiums and even warehouses to keep their transactions from the police. So we need their support,” he said.
The PDEA-6 head also urged the establishment owners to be vigilant of drug transactions and maintain open and strong coordination with the authorities relative to the antidrug efforts of the government.
He added that they have chosen Iloilo City as the pilot area for this project and the same efforts will also be implemented in different cities and municipalities all over Western Visayas starting on the last quarter of 2019.
Tablate invited owners, managers, supervisors, and representatives from different establishments here for a series of information drive about the project and the topics being discussed were the implementation of drug-free workplace program policy, identification of clandestine laboratory and modus operandi, provisions of Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, and types of drugs and their effects.
“In the campaign against illegal drugs, hindi lang operations or manghuli pero we need to have programs for spreading information about illegal drugs. We need the help of everybody that’s why we launched a region-wide program because this will bring a big impact in curbing illegal drugs,” Tablate said./PN
