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BY MAE SINGUAY
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BACOLOD City – Several barangay officials do not want to serve as witness in antidrug operations of law enforcers.
Barangay captains expressed their concern in a meeting with the local office of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO).
Yesterday’s meeting was the second one, the first being in October, said DILG-Bacolod City officer-in-charge Carmelo Orbista.
The barangay captains sought further clarification on their role during antidrug operations, among other concerns, Orbista said.
Some barangay officials want to stay out of such operations — they do not want to be identified as a possible prosecution witness against the suspect/s, said Orbista.
But police station commanders at the meeting clarified that they tap witnesses “for inventory purposes only,” he said.
Orbista stressed the operation “witness” will not be used as prosecution witness in case the suspects get tried.
But witnesses, who may include any barangay official or a member of the local media, had to be there when law enforcers inventory the items recovered from the suspects, according to the DILG official.
The Philippine National Police under the Duterte administration has intensified its antidrug campaign through Oplan Double Barrel.
For Singcang barangay captain Rosini Distrito, it would be better if they regularly meet with the DILG and the BCPO every month so they could clear things up as soon as possible.
Meanwhile Orbista said poverty, peace and order, and illegal drugs are most common problems in the villages.
The DILG is currently dealing with the thousands of self-confessed drug users and suspected pushers who surrendered to the police, he said./PN
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