by Angeline Valencia
Both the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency have mobilized all their units and allied agencies to wage an all-out war against illegal drugs in the province.
Heeding the call of Governor Edgar Chatto to zero in on illegal drugs as the root of all evils in the community, Bohol police director Constantino Barot Jr. and PDEA-7 regional director Jigger Montallana warned drug personalities that more aggressive operations had been launched.
Montallana said that for the meantime, their agents in Bohol were occupying the old PDEA office at K of C Drive along Gallares St. in Tagbilaran City.
He said they will transfer their office to Camp Dagohoy, as offered by the governor and Barot, once the renovation of the administration building of the Bohol Police Provincial Office is completed.
He said the PDEA office needs to be located near the BPPO for prompt coordination in undertaking operations.
Montallana also proposed to put K-9 units in all ports of entry in Bohol and even in the islands to block all transshipment of illegal drugs from other provinces.
Chatto assured Montallana that the provincial government will allocate funds to acquire K-9 units if needed just to secure all the areas of Bohol from the illegal drugs trade.
The Bohol Chamber of Commerce and Industry also expressed full support and assured full cooperation to the plan of action that authorities have designed against illegal drugs.
The problem on illegal drugs had been lengthily discussed during the recent Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) meeting in the town of Antequera.
During the meeting, Panglao Councilor Walter Sultan disclosed that the town mayor’s intelligence fund last year has remained intact when, in fact, it could have been put to good use if allocated for information gathering regarding the activities of drug personalities in their town.
Sangguniang Panlalawigan Member Brigido Imboy, chair of the Committee on Peace and Order, said during the PPOC meeting that based on a surveillance report regarding illegal drugs, the islands of Cabul-an in the town of Buenavista and Pandanon in Getafe had been transshipment points of illegal drugs.
Montallana assured that they will include the islands in the list of priority areas of focus as the governor also understood that what Imboy reported was just an indication that the supply of shabu unloaded in the islands were brought to mainland Bohol.
Montallana also reported that in Cebu, they conduct trainors’ training on anti-drugs campaign and Governor Gwen Garcia has also been supportive of their plan of action in constricting all ports in the province.
He said they can do it here in Bohol, considering that 13,600 passengers and 14 airline carriers go in and out of Central Visayas a day and the bulk of illegal drugs supply getting in the province came from Cebu.
Montallana explained that they have to be strategic in prioritizing the high-value targets to maximize their limited manpower of only 1,000 nationwide and only three of them are in Bohol, although they are training 200 more agents to fully undertake the operations against drug personalities.
The BCCI is also pushing for the resumption of information drive against drug abuse in the campuses.
Col. John Bonafos, commander of the 802nd Infantry Brigade, also assured to help PDEA in the fight against illegal drugs.
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Topic: Gov Chatto, PNP, PDEA All-Out War vs Drugs in Bohol (Read 1090 times)