DAVAO ORIENTAL – As he lauded the immediate response of residents and law enforcement agencies on the recent discovery of bricks of cocaine found along the shorelines of Caraga town, Davao Oriental Governor Nelson Dayanghirang said that reward await those villagers who tipped and reported to the authorities about the shockingly massive find.
“First of all, I congratulate the residents of Caraga town, particularly residents and village officials of Barangay Santiago for immediately reporting to the local police the recovery of bricks of cocaine found along their shoreline. I also thank the local police, the personnel of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Philippine Navy for their immediate response to the incident. We will give rewards to residents who found and surrendered to the government authorities the bricks of cocaine,” says Governor Dayanghirang in a statement.
During the Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Council (PADAC) Meeting held on February 27 at the Oriental Prince Hotel in the City of Mati, the members passed a resolution to extend monetary reward of P30,000 each to the two residents who reported the discovered bricks of cocaine to the authorities.
PADAC Action Officer and Provincial Administrator Art Benjie Bulaong said that the two residents who have been instrumental in the recovery of the drugs deserve to get the reward so that more people will be encouraged to support and cooperate in the province’s anti-drug efforts. “We are giving this reward to people who have enough courage to report incidents such as this,” he said.
Members of the PADAC have agreed that they are highly in favor of giving incentives to those who will give valuable intelligence reports to the authorities related to illegal drugs. Some members also suggested to institutionalize a reward system for cases like this.
On February 24, based on report from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), residents discovered 36 bricks of cocaine valued to be more or less P215 million pesos washed ashore the coast of Barangay Santiago in Caraga. Three additional bricks were discovered a day after said IA1 Eleazar Arapoc of PDEA. He said that the total amount of the seized cocaine is estimated to be around 47 kilos.
He said law enforcement agencies such as the Philippine Coast Guard and Philippine Navy are conducting monitoring in the coastal areas of Caraga to see if there are still remnants of the cocaine left along the coasts while the police and the PDEA are investigating the source of drugs and their connection to the other discovered cocaine bricks in other areas in the country.
Meanwhile, Governor Dayanghirang called on his constituents to immediately surrender the remnants of illegal drugs believed to be still floating along the coastal communities in the province as he promised to give rewards to those who would surrender bricks of cocaine to government authorities.
STRENGTHENING INTELLIGENCE AND CAMPAIGN
While it is nearly impossible to guard every inch of the province’s coasts which is the longest coastline in the Davao Region, stretching to more than 500 kilometers, authorities say that it would not stop them from making efforts to secure the province and its borders from land to the sea.
The governor has called for the strengthening of partnership and coordination and integration of all efforts of stakeholders to help solve the most serious problem of illegal drugs.
The PADAC said that the discovery of cocaine in the province is yet another challenge to Council to even more strengthen the intelligence reports, anti-drug efforts, and advocacy campaigns in order to once and for all rid the province of the drug menace and to help create a healthy and safe society to live in.
“We have stepped up all our efforts especially our anti-drug advocacy campaign,” Bulaong said. On the note about the surfacing of cocaine which is not a commonly abused drug by drug users in the country, he said that regardless if it is already being marketed here, the PADAC and the communities here will not let their guard down.
In an interview, 701st Brigade Commander of the Philippine Army Col. Manuel Sequitin said that the discovery and reporting of the drugs means a huge triumph for the people. He said that the residents’ showing of cooperation and even reporting this incident to the authorities only means that they do not want illegal drugs to proliferate in their community.
Meanwhile, the Governor’s Chief of Staff Ednar Dayanghirang, who represented Governor Dayanghirang at the PADAC meeting, suggested to tap coastal communities, including the fishermen, to be part of the anti-drug campaign and more importantly to become part of governance.
He said that the Provincial Government is keen on the implementation of its Governance Framework which promotes inclusive governance, especially among the marginalized sectors which include the coastal communities. He said anti-poverty programs for these sectors will help uplift impoverished communities which are often fall prey to the ills of drugs.
Meanwhile, Governor Dayanghriang added in his statement that “We will continue to mobilize everyone for the campaign against illegal drugs trade. And I ask everyone from the barangay chairs to the mayors and all those occupying seats of power and authority, not to lower our guard. There should be no let-up in this campaign. Let us always double our efforts, or triple them if need be. We should not stop until the last drug lord in the province, the last financier and the last pusher have surrendered or put behind bars. Let us do our job and I assure you of my unwavering support for the campaign against illegal drugs trade. As your chief executive in this province, I will be with you all the way. We will win in the war against illegal drugs.” Photos by Eden Jhan Licayan
