Drive vs drugs
PEOPLE get this feeling that the government will succeed in addressing the illegal drugs problem.
This, after the Philippine National Police (PNP) reported the seizure of more than P32 billion worth of illegal drugs during the first 21 months of the Marcos administration.
Unlike the “bloody” war of the past administration, the PNP, which is civilian in nature but national in scope, has been carrying out its anti-drug drive through a holistic approach.
In fact, the national police has intensified the demand reduction campaign through the highly-successful “Buhay Ingatan, Droga’y Iwasan (BIDA) Program.”
Under the “BIDA Program,” the government is determined to establish more drug rehabilitation centers not only in the metropolis but also in the countryside.
Involved in the program are national and local government agencies, the private sector and faith-based and civil organizations.
“Our local government units implemented community-based drug rehabilitation programs,” according to DILG Secretary Benhur Abalos.
These community-based drug rehabilitation programs have already produced some 182,846 graduates, said the DILG secretary.
We share the view of well-meaning Filipinos that drug dependents, mostly youngsters. are “victims” of the illegal drug menace.
As such, the government needs to rehabilitate these “victims” to enable them to become productive citizens of the community anew.
Certainly, the government is on the right track in rehabiitating the drug dependents.
