ILOILO – Liga ng mga Barangay provincial federation president Dorothy Paes is calling on barangay officials to not get involved in illegal activities, particularly drug trafficking.
On June 26, a barangay captain was caught in a buy-bust operation in San Enrique town.
Elvie Paez, 47, of Barangay Lip-ac, San Enrique, yielded 10 sachets of suspected shabu with an estimated value of P34,000 after an undercover policeman bought from him a sachet for P1,000.
Police also found a homemade 12-gauge shotgun with a cartridge, a revolver, and five live cartridges of unknown caliber.
“Wala ko na ginatolerar ang mga bagay nga amo sina. Kita nga leader sa aton kabarangayan dapat ang role model,” said Paes, also the barangay captain of Barangay Balabag, Dumangas.
There are 1,721 barangays in Iloilo, and Paes said she could not monitor each official on her own.
As barangay officials, Paes said, they should lead the antidrug campaign and enforce laws.
She is in favor of Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr.’s proposed drug testing for candidates in the upcoming barangay elections.
“Dira mapakita naton nga willing kita. Wala man kita nahadlokan sini kon indi kita involved sa illegal drugs,” Paes said.
Data from the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) showed four village chiefs and 11 barangay councilmen in the province were involved in illegal drugs.
The four chief villages were from Cabatuan town (two), New Lucena (one) and Ajuy (one).
On the other hand, the 11 barangay councilmen were from the towns of Batad (two), Barotac Viejo (one), Banate (one), Cabatuan (one), Oton (two, of which one has been arrested), Sara (one), Miag-ao (one), Calinog (one), and Tigbauan (one).
Region-wide, the PRO-6 listed 76 barangay officials involved in illegal drugs, according to Police Brigadier General Sidney Villaflor, PRO-6director.
These 76 were either arrested in antidrug operations of the police or surrendered voluntarily, he clarified.
“Patuloy ang ating pag-monitor sa kanila, counterintelligence monitoring,” Villaflor said./PN
