The Cebu Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Commission (CPADAC) is eyeing a town in the Camotes group of islands to become the first totally drug-free municipality in the province.
Joey Herrera, CPADAC executive director, said the lone islet of Pilar is a potential for the project.
“That is the target I have set for myself this year. I will still have to present this to the executive committee and I will tell them that this is what I want to happen,” he told reporters this week.
This, after CPADAC conducted a surprise drug test on 67 municipal employees last November and nobody came out with positive results for substance use.
Herrera said he believes it would be a good idea to invest in the town’s anti-illegal drugs campaign in order for it to become a totally drug-free municipality.
He said that the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) has a set of criteria to determine whether a town is drug-free or not.
Herrera said that the presence of even just one drug user or pusher in the town would disqualify it from being declared as “drug-free.”
However, he is confident that the goal is possible.
Mayor Jesus Fernandez Jr. said he is willing to work with CPADAC and Herrera to achieve the goal.
Fernandez said that because Pilar is separate from the rest of the towns that are part of Camotes, the local government can control the entry and exit of possible illegal substances. “But I cannot say for sure because there will always be individuals who will try to enter our town,” he said.
The mayor added that the effort to achieve the goal should be community-wide, involving not only the local government but also those under it down to the “purok”.
He said that the participation of parents, teachers and law enforcement officers will also matter.
Out of the four Camotes Island towns tested by CPADAC last year, it was only in Pilar where no one tested positive for drug use. One male employee tested positive in Tudela, eight in the municipality of San Francisco, and two in Poro.
Republic Act No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 provides that any officer or employee found positive of dangerous drugs use shall be dealt with administratively, the offense being a ground for suspension or termination, subject to the provisions of the Labor Code and the Civil Service Law.
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