BAGUIO CITY June 29 – The Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) recorded some 2,454 drug surrenderers in the city following the intensified anti-drug operations of the Duterte administration over a year ago to curb illegal drugs nationwide and prevent the youth from being involved in illegal drugs.
Senior Superintendent Ramil L. Saculles, BCPO City Director, said of the total number of drug surrenderers in the city, 2,018 were said to be drug users while 436 were drug pushers.
From July 1, 2016 to January 2017, BCPO recorded 2,362 drug surrenderers wherein 1, 979 were drug users and 383 were said to be drug pushers.
When the government’s enhanced anti-drug campaign was implemented starting March 6 this year, the local police force accounted for 92 drug surrenderers wherein 53 were drug pushers and 39 were drug users.
“We continue to receive drug surrenderers in the different police stations aside from the ones that are being arrested in our anti-drug operations that is why we remain aggressive to help clear the city of illegal drugs,” Saculles stressed.
For those users and pushers who want to be brought back to mainstream society, the BCPO chief revealed they are being required to undergo a 12-module integrated participatory community-based rehabilitation program wherein the drug surrenderers are mandated to complete a battery of tests before they will be allowed to graduate from the program.
Based on the latest data obtained from the Cordillera office of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA-CAR), there are still 19 of the city’s 128 barangays which are classified as drug-affected because of the presence of reported drug pushers and users which have to be neutralized by police operatives and anti-narcotics agents.
According to him, for as long as there are reported drug pushers and users in the drug-affected barangays, law enforcers will continue to intensify their anti-drug operations in coordination with the concerned sectors of society to stop the proliferation of illegal drugs and spare the youth from becoming addicts.
The police official claimed BCPO will continue to be actively involved in the implementation of community-based programs to encourage the active participation of the youth, like Battle of the Bands, sports events, and other productive activities that will help them shy away from the use of prohibited drugs.
He added BCPO continues to engage the various sectors of the community to help in curbing the use and trade of illegal drugs as the city remains a transshipment point for drugs.**By Dexter A. See
