AS part of its new combat duties against illegal drugs, the Philippine Army will train more soldiers to become trainers of the Drug Resistance Abuse Education (DARE) program that Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada has been implementing in the country since 1993.
Col. Thomas Sedano, commander of the Civil-Military Operations Group, said on Friday they are also willing to help Estrada implement DARE nationwide, especially in remote areas where the Army has active presence.
“We will definitely add more,” Sedano said of plans to train more Army soldiers in the DARE program. “We will request the Army leadership because we want to replicate the trainors’ training program in other Army units.”
Estrada welcomed CMOG’s enthusiasm in spreading DARE nationwide, saying it will be a big help in teaching young school children how to say “No” to drugs.
“We should not be surprised to see soldiers getting involved in the DARE program, because after all, our President Rodrigo Duterte has declared war on drugs,” he said.
On September 23, 29 members of CMOG graduated from the 10-day DARE Officers Training course, the first members of the military to become certified instructors of the classroom-based program.
Sedano said the Armed Forces is thankful to Estrada for allowing soldiers to become DARE teachers. “The Philippine Army is now taking an active role in the campaign of the government against drugs.”
“If we can do this to other units of the Army and other branches of the Armed Forces, it is better, dahil napakalawak ng Philippine Army all over the Philippines, so if we can have this, mas mapapadali ‘yung implementasyon ng program,” Sedano said of the DARE Officers Training course.
CMOG is unit of the Army that specializes in conducting psychological and psycho-social operations or “hearts and minds” campaign in the communities with the aim of winning the support of the civilian population.
DARE, which originated from Los Angeles, California, is a classroom instruction program that taps active duty police officers to teach Grades 5 and 6 students good decision-making skills to keep them away from the influence of drugs and other vices.
As chairman of DARE Philippines Association, Inc., Estrada brought and introduced DARE to the country in 1993 when he was vice president and chief of the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission.
Estrada will be bringing to the city later this month a team of elite policemen-instructors from the Los Angeles Police Department to train members of the Manila Police District in teaching DARE in Manila schools.
Thirty-seven MPD policemen will undergo the basic 80-hour DARE Officer Training course to be handled by 14 DARE instructors from the LAPD, who will be arriving in Manila by the last week of October, according to Dr. Antonio Abacan, Jr., president of DARE Philippines Association Inc.
At present, MPD only has 14 active DARE instructors since Estrada started implementing the program in Manila in 2013.