OWNERS and managers of 30 bars along Mango Avenue in uptown Cebu City agreed to let their security personnel be trained by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7).
PDEA-7 Director Yogi Filemon Ruiz said they would train the security personnel of the different bars in the area on how to handle and preserve illegal drugs found in their establishments.
Ruiz said that the agency and the bar owners and managers agreed to the arrangement after they met at the PDEA-7 office in Cebu City.
Both groups discussed the PDEA-7’s drug awareness program, where the owners and managers of the bars inputs were taken.
PDEA-7 would conduct training on the security personnel on the various clubs and bar on how to handle if ever they would encounter evidence of drugs being smuggled on their premises.
“We will conduct training on how they (security) can preserve and handle evidence but they will not be deputized to become a PDEA agent for that is another matter, and what would be teaching them is only preserving and handling,” Ruiz said.
Ruiz also added that they also planned to conduct the same meeting with other bar and clubs owners in Mandaue, Escario and other places where there are many big and small clubs and bar operating.
Councilor Dave Tumulak, deputy mayor for police matters, who was present during the meeting, also reminded the bar owners of the security camera requirements so that they could have their business renewed in Cebu City.