Tarp campaign on barangay officials

If barangay officials don’t join in anti-drug campaigns, they might as well be supporting drug lords.

So said Clarence Paul Oaminal, presiding officer of the Cebu City Anti Drug Abuse Council (CADAC), who’s pressuring barangay officials to join Cebu City Hall-led activities marking Drug Awareness Week.

“This is my personal plan, not the CADAC or the city government, I will put up tarpaulins saying ‘Our barangay officials support the drug lords’ for barangays who won’t join the March for a Drug-Free Cebu on Nov. 15 from Fuente Osmeña to Plaza Independencia,” he said.

Oaminal said most offices and barangays just do “tarpaulin observance” on events like these, adding that hey just put up tarpaulins saying they support a certain celebration but don’t actually participate.

Yesterday, the CADAC and the Cebu City Office for Substance Abuse Prevention (Cosap) held a motorcade participated in by 10 barangays.

Oaminal said in previous Drug Awareness Week observances, less than 10 of the city’s 80 barangays actively participated.

City Councilor Phillip Zafra, who heads the Association of Barangay Councils (ABC), said he supports activities against drugs.

“But to label them as supporters of drug lords is unfair. We encourage barangay officials to join these activities. Joining this rally is not also an assurance that they’re not protecting or they’re fighting against drug lords,” Zafra said.

In a related development, an official from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-7 cried foul over a question posed by a reporter on the higher number of arrests made by police compared to their office.

“PNP, PDEA, NBI, we are not competitors. We don’t compete against each other but against drugs,” said legal counsel Charles White during yesterday’s press conference.

He said PDEA-7 has 50 personnel for their regional office, so they seek assistance from other enforcement agencies like the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).