P8.6 million worth of marijuana was uprooted in Balamban last October 29. (Photo courtesy of PDEA-7)
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu Police Provincial Office (CPPO) is bent on implementing community-based programs in Balamban and Toledo City to address the problem of a rampant marijuana plantation in these areas.
Police Colonel Roderick Mariano, director of CPPO told reporters this morning, February 17, 2020, that they will continue to conduct medical missions, feeding programs and daily patrols in said areas which were considered as the marijuana plantation sites in the province.
Mariano said that since these areas are mountainous with sitios that are not usually reached by patrols, they are deemed suitable for planting marijuana.
He said that the cool temperature in these areas also makes them suitable sites to cultivate the illegal plants.
“Malamig at mahirap puntahan ang mga areas na to (It is cold and a difficult place to go to),” said Mariano.
According to Mariano, the lack of sustainable livelihood programs has driven most of the farmers there to resort to marijuana planting.
The police hope that community-based activities will help them discover the marijuana plantation sites as the locals start to open up to them through sustained interaction.
Now that they have established a relationship between the community, Mariano said their next step is to double their efforts in intelligence gathering to identify the other cultivators and landowners behind the illegal plantations.
In the months of January and February 2020, a total of P37.8 million worth of marijuana plants were uprooted and burned from both Balamban and Toledo City.
“What we can assure is that with the help of the community we will be able to someday clear these areas,” said Mariano. /rcg