About 168 suspected drug peddlers, three of whom were among the most notorious in the town, surrendered to the police in the southern Cebu town of Minglanilla at around 6 p. m today.
Chief Inspector Franco Rodulf Oriol, chief of the Minglanilla police, said the 110 of the surrenderers came from Barangay Tungkop, 27 from Barangay Ward 3 Poblacion and 31 from Barangay Tunghaan.
Oriol said that among the surrenderers were three of the town’s top ten drug peddlers who were in the police watch list. They were identified as Allan Diaz, Jade Paul and Niel Tecson.
Minglanilla Mayor Elenito Peña and Vice Mayor Robert John Selma were present during the mass surrender program, which was part of the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) nationwide campaign called “Oplan Tokhang” meant to convince drug peddlers and users to give themselves up before the police would hunt them down.
After they signed an written oath promising that they would no longer use or trade illegal drugs, they were allowed to go home, Oriol said.
As of this weekend, at least 2,000 drug users and peddlers have willingly signed the oath in so-called “mass surrenders” held in various town and cities across Central Visayas, the PNP in the region said.