Alcover’s proposed ordinance: Mandatory community service for Tokhang surrenderers

WHAT else can be done to the growing number of drug users and pushers that have turned themselves in to authorities?

If Cebu City Councilor Pastor “Jun” Alcover Jr. is to be asked, mandatory community service is the answer.

This is why he is proposing an ordinance to require all drug surrenderers in Cebu City to render 40 hours of mandatory community service to be fulfilled within six months.

“Various intervention programs through the efforts of distinguished offices, commendable as they are, are still insufficient as there is a further need to instill among these ‘surrenderees’ (sic) a sense of responsibility for their actions which have disrupted public peace and damaged lives and families,” Alcover said in his proposed ordinance.

He cited current intervention programs by the city including the We Care Program of the Cebu City Office on Substance Abuse Prevention (Cosap), job placement programs through the Department of Manpower Development and Placement (DMDP), as well as slots for vocational training through the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda).

In his proposed measure, Alcover cited different community service activities which include clean-up drives, mangrove planting, planting of seedlings at the city’s nursery or the Department of Agriculture, painting of public school buildings or volunteering as firefighters, among others.

The Cebu City Police Office and Cosap will be tasked to implement the ordinance if it gets approved by the City Council and with the help of community partners, stakeholders, other government agencies and nongovernment organizations.

Alcover cited records from the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 in a recent forum which showed that a total of 62,290 drug users and pushers have surrendered to different police units in the region for the month of July alone. Of the number, 2,971 are from Cebu City.

In requiring these surrenderers to do community work, he said this will keep them busy and away from going back to using illegal drugs.

He also cited a study published in the website restorativejustice.org by the Centre for Justice and Reconciliation, which gives the surrenderers “an opportunity to see firsthand the direct or indirect damage they have caused to the community.”

During the City Council’s regular session last week, the proposed ordinance was referred to the committee on laws for review.