Police Colonel Engelbert Soriano, Cebu Police Provincial Office director
CEBU CITY, Philippines — “From kilos of shabu in previous years to 50 to 60 grams of shabu at present.”
This was how Police Colonel Engelbert Soriano, Cebu Police Provincial Office (CPPO) director, described the illegal drugs confiscated during buy-bust operations in Cebu Province today.
Soriano said this was the reason that he could call the illegal drugs situation in Cebu Province as at a “minimum level.”
Soriano said that around 50 to 60 grams of ‘shabu’ were already even big enough that police could confiscate during operations these days as compared to kilos in previous years.
He also said that one proof of the effectiveness of their drug campaign was the current situation of Talisay City, which was considered previously as a “hotbed” in terms of illegal drugs.
He said that with their Oplan Limpyo, which had a holistic approach in tackling the illegal drugs problem there — Talisay City’s drug problem had somehow been addressed with the improvement of the illegal drug situation there.
CPPO Chief Soriano attributed this to the joint efforts of the Talisay City Police Station, Talisay City government and the community.
Now, Soriano said that through the holistic approach or the Oplan Limpyo, in joint efforts of the Talisay City Police Station, Talisay City government, and the community, they were able to continuously improve in their campaign there.
“Fortunately we used to have Talisay City, na consider yan na hotbed (which is considered a hotbed), but with the efforts of our chief of police there and honorable mayor, and their holistic approach to anti-illegal drugs campaign ay unti unti bumabangon yung Talisay (Talisay has slowly improved their situation there),” CPPO Chief Soriano said.
On his Facebook post, Police Lieutenant Colonel Gerard Ace Pelare, Talisay City Police Station chief, said that their anti-illegal drug war in Talisay City through their Oplan Limpyo had helped them improve the peace and security in the city and the reduction of illegal drugs there.
“The police can never achieve these without the aggressive and consistent drive of the City LGU to rid the City of illegal drugs and crimes,” Pelare said.
“The LGU has given all the financial and logistical support as well as the strategic direction of our fight against illegal drugs. Community participation is also indispensable and I have never seen a partnership so strong, so strategic and so consistent as what we have established in Talisay in maintaining the peace,” Pelare’s post read.
CPPO Chief Soriano, for his part, also said that their campaign against illegal drugs did not only affect the supply and demand rate of illegal drugs but it also helped lessen the crime rate in the province.
He said this was also because the community was empowered to report any suspicious incident beforehand.
“Paanong hindi maging effective? We have to look at the impact of the campaign against illegal drugs. Makikita mo, di lang naman naapektuhan yung illegal drugs na aspeto eh. Naging safer yung mga streets pati yung mga eight focused crimes natin bumaba because of intensified drugs campaign,” Soriano said.
(How can it not be effective? We have to look at the impact of the campaign against illegal drugs. You can see that it is not just the illegal drugs aspect that has been affected. The streets have become safer and even the eight focused crimes have gone down because of the intensified drugs campaign.)
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