Police Lieutenant Colonel Eloveo Marquez, deputy chief for operations of the MCPO | Mary Rose Sagarino
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Mandaue City police are hopeful that barangay Tawason will be declared as a drug-cleared barangay early next year as its listed drug offenders are expected to graduate this December from a community-based drug rehabilitation program.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Eloveo Marquez, deputy chief for operations of the Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO), said this as they also anticipate that more barangays will be motivated in clearing their barangays from drugs following the declaration of barangay Bakilid as drug-cleared last September 28.
“We hope nga successful siya. Walay mag positive unya wala nay mugamit sa tanang mga naa sa ilahang watchlist aron ma declared kining barangay Tawason as drug cleared barangay,” Marquez said.
(We hope that this will be successful. Hopefully, no one will test positive for drugs or take drugs from among the listed drug offenders so that barangay Tawason will be declared a drug-cleared barangay. )
Mandaue City is composed of 27 barangays.
READ: Bakilid is drug-cleared barangay
Drug-cleared barangays are barangays that are previously drug-affected, subjected to Barangay Drug Clearing Program, and underwent deliberation from the Regional Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug Clearing. ROCBDC is the body that will declare barangays as drug cleared based on its assessment.
Marquez added that the biggest factor in achieving this is the cooperation of the community.
He noted that community involvement is extremely crucial in curtailing drug-related activities in the barangays.
The information coming from concerned citizens also helped them in the success of their drug operations in the city.
Marquez further said that based on their previous drug operations, they noticed that the volume of drugs that they seized has decreased compared to previous years.
He added that most of the arrested drug personalities were from neighboring cities and not residents of Mandaue City.
“Ang makuha nato nga mga volume sa shabu kay ginagmay ra gyud kaayo, by sachet…The suspects are not from Mandaue. The suspects came from other city and distributed illegal drugs diri sa Mandaue and nearby cities, kumbaga hatod hatod lang diri sa supply,” he said.
Marquez added that barangay Bakilid will only maintain its status as drug cleared if it can sustain its efforts against it, or its status could be reverted.
He said this should challenge the remaining 26 barangays of the city to also aim to be drug cleared. /rcg
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