Close to 1K drug surrenderees turn anti-illegal drug advocates in Talisay City

Here are some of the new members of the Anti-Illegal Drug Advocates (AIDA) of Talisay City. | 📷Talisay City Police Station.

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Close to 1,000 former drug surrenderees in Talisay City are now members of the city’s Anti-Illegal Drug Advocates (AIDA).

The advocates will be helping the police in implementing the city’s laws. They are the city’s former drug surrenderees from 2016 to the present who have undergone training.

They underwent and completed the drug rehabilitation program in the city and have proven their commitment to change.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Randy Caballes, chief of the Talisay City Police Station, said among the functions of these advocates include traffic manning, information dissemination against illegal drugs, and patrolling, among others. They will assist and report directly to the police.

They were presented on Tuesday morning, January 10, at the Talisay City Hall grounds with Police Brigadier General Jerry Bearis, director of the Police Regional Office (PRO-7) as the special guest.

Bearis said that they are planning to replicate AIDA in Central Visayas adding that AIDA is the reflection of the community’s openness in taking part in the government’s campaign against illegal drugs.

For his part, Talisay City Mayor Gerald “Samsam” Gullas said that AIDA is part of their 4-phased approach against illegal drugs, dubbed as Oplan Limpyo Talisay.

The 4-phase approach includes the relentless operations of the police, the community’s involvement in anti-illegal drug activities, their drug rehabilitation program, and their barangay drug clearing efforts.

Gullas said that from 2019 to 2022, Talisay City police conducted around 3,000 anti-illegal drug operations, resulting in the arrest of around 2,000 individuals. A total of 23 kilos of illegal drugs worth P156 million were also confiscated.

They also recorded around 2,300 drug dependents who graduated from the city’s drug rehabilitation program.

For their barangay drug-clearing efforts, of the 22 villages in the city, five have been declared drug-cleared. These include Barangay Cadulawan, Maghaway, Kampo 4, Manipis, and Tapul.

“Understatement gayud nga lisod ang giatubang as fas as the war against drugs is concerned. Pag lingkod nako pag 2019, permi special mention ni Pres. Duterte ang Talisay City maong naghimo tag program called Oplan Limpyo Talisay,” Gullas said.

“As we move forward to a better Talisay, Oplan Limpyo Talisay is in the middle of it,” he added.    /rcg

ALSO READ: 

No deaths in anti-illegal drug operations in Central Visayas within a month 

Intensified anti-illegal drugs campaign in Lapu-Lapu yields P247.2M of shabu in less than two months