BAGUIO CITY—Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan remains alarmed over the increasing number of drug surrenderers coming from the city’s 128 barangays.
Domogan cited the need for a more aggressive campaign to rid Baguio of illegal drugs “that tend to compromise the bright future of today’s youth.”
From July 1 to Dec. 31, 2016, the city recorded 2,360 drug surrenderers, with 1,971 of them users and 389 of them pushers involved in the lucrative drug trade.
Further, Domogan noted 197 individuals involved in illegal drugs were arrested during the government’s all-out campaign against the proliferation of prohibited drugs in the city. The mayor said 175 were drug pushers and 22 were users.
“We have still a long way to go in the anti-illegal drug campaign, but we are confident that we can rid our city of illegal drugs if there is sustained teamwork and unity among our officials and the people we serve,” Domogan stressed.
He said the local government has made available the services of the City Social Welfare and Development Office to help reform the drug surrenderers to allow them to be able to be brought back to mainstream society and become productive citizens of the barangays where they belong.
The mayor said law enforcers, barangay officials and volunteers need to sustain the government’s anti-drug campaign because it has significantly contributed in reducing the occurrence of crimes in Baguio over the past several months.
He expressed surprise over the number of individuals in the city who are involved in the illegal drug trade. Saying that the government cannot solve the problem alone, the people in the barangays need to get involved and help the police neutralize the activities of individuals involved in the sale and disposal of illegal drugs.
Based on the number of drug surrenderers over the past six months, Domogan agreed with the contention of some sectors that all the city’s 128 barangays were drug affected because of either drug surrenderers or drug personalities who were arrested in separate drug operations citywide.
The mayor said concerned sectors in the city need to work double time to arrest those who continue to sell and dispose illegal drugs and defy lawful orders for them to start reforming their means of livelihood to prevent them from being arrested and jailed for their involvement in illegal drugs.
“Everyone wants to live in a drug-free community that is why everyone must be involved in the neutralization of those drug personalities who continue to peddle prohibited drugs amid the strong pronouncement of the present administration that the days of the drug personalities are numbered and that the room that they currently operate is becoming narrower,” he said.