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The municipality of Liloan in coordination with the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO)-Liloan Police Station has conducted an orientation on the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council (BADAC) last November 19 at the La Consolacion College.
Cebu Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Commission (CPADAC) Executive Director Joey Herrera said the orientation was important since the creation of BADAC was mandated by law.
“Nindot kaayo no nga ang Liloan ilang gipundok ang tanang members sa BADAC para sa orientation kabahin sa ilang role para katong nahitabo sa Talisay City di na mausab (It’s very good that the municipality of Liloan gathered its BADAC members to orient them on their role to help ensure that what happened in Talisay City will not happen again),” said Herrera.
Herrera was referring to a Talisay City barangay captain who was charged by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 for refusing to act as witness to the inventory of confiscated shabu in a raid.
Instead, Talisay City Association of Barangay Councils President Raul Cabañero was caught playing mah-jong in the neighborhood.
Stipulations in the Republic Act 9165 otherwise known as the “Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002” requires any elected public official “to sign the copies of the inventory.”
Close to 100 BADAC members and 12 barangay captains attended the orientation. Herrera and Atty. Lauro Licen of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 7 were the guest speakers in the activity.
The creation of local anti-drug councils was based on Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Memorandum Circular No. 98-277 issued in 1998.
Licen said that by virtue of the memorandum, BADAC is entitled to form 25 auxiliary members if their population in their barangay reached 2,000.
The main function of the BADAC is to provide information to authorities on suspected drug activities in their area.
Licen said drug users posed risks to every individual as drug-related crimes are committed in random.
If desperate for money, for example, Licen said they just attack whoever comes their way. This is why the government brought the fight to the community level, he added.
In Liloan, nine of 14 barangays were already drug infested, according to the report of Police Superintendent Anthony Bagarinao, deputy provincial director for operations at the Cebu Provincial Police Office.
The municipality ranked first in the number of operations conducted on illegal drugs from January to October this year. Liloan had conducted 58 operations during the period. Danao City and Consolacion followed with 53 and 44, respectively.
The local government units were required by RA 9165 to allocate funds for their anti-drug programs. He said the Cebu Provincial Board will not approve their respective annual budgets if they do not have the said mandated allocations.
As one of six-star agenda of the current administration, the Capitol provides incentives to CPPO and PDEA personnel to support their campaign against illegal drugs.
Original post found at http://www.cebu.gov.ph