ASIDE from conducting anti-illegal drug operations and arrests, policemen in Cebu also visit different schools in the hope of convincing children to stay away from illegal drugs.
Cebu City Councilor Dave Tumulak, Deputy Mayor on Police Matters, said if only children will not engage in narcotics, authorities will be able lessen the drug problem in the country.
“We, in the city government and the police, are trying to rescue those minors by intensifying drug operations and our education campaign especially that kids who use or peddle illegal drugs were just influenced by peers or do it out of curiosity,” he said in an interview.
Tumulak said it is, however, the primary responsibility of parents to look after their children so they won’t fall prey to the menace of illegal drugs.
“The state is there only to support. Everything begins in the family so we request our parents to help us,” he said.
“We know the effects of illegal drugs. It can ruin lives and families. So let us get rid of it,” he added.
Tumulak also appealed to the religious sector to intervene and to help strengthen the families.
“Addressing the problem of illegal drugs must involve all sectors of society,” he said.
Based on the records of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), at least 4,887 minors from among the nearly 100,000 persons surrendered to authorities in the region under Oplan Tokhang since President Rodrigo Duterte launched the war on drugs on July 1, 2016.
Of this figure, 4,827 admitted to be using illegal drugs, 46 peddled the illegal substance, while 14 acted as drug couriers.
There was no specific data on the age bracket, but the same record showed that most of these minors were either in high school or were out-of-school youth.
4,760 of them are boys while 127 are girls, the police data revealed.
For the whole of Central Visayas, the PRO-7 report said that Bohol has the most number of children who were into illegal drugs at 2,621, followed by Cebu Province (1,740), Cebu City (247), Mandaue City (156), Lapu-Lapu City (104), and Siquijor (19).
Since the war on drugs started, the police said at least 428 minors were arrested in different operations in Central Visayas either for using or selling illegal drugs.
Of the number, at least 218 were turned over to the Second Chance Centers for proper intervention.
Under the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act, a child who commits a crime at age 15 is exempted from criminal liability.
Children above 15 years old to 17 are also free from criminal liability, but shall be subjected to an intervention program, unless they acted with discernment in committing an offense.