General Santos City—The provincial government of South Cotabato will expand its advocacy programs against illegal drugs to secondary schools within the province.
South Cotabato Gov. Daisy Avance-Fuentes said Wednesday they have already linked up with the Department of Education to facilitate the implementation of the Barkada Kontra Droga program in all local public high schools.
Fuentes said the program has been an effective tool in preventing young people, especially students, from getting involved in illegal drugs.
“The war against illegal drugs is not just about law enforcement. We need to really go down to our communities, including our schools, to educate our young people and tap them to become advocates against this menace,” the governor said.
BKD, which is supported by the Dangerous Drugs Board, was adopted by DepEd to strengthen the implementation of the National Drug Education Program.
The governor said the provincial government will spearhead efforts in promoting advocacy activities to address peer pressure problems among students and out-of-school youths.
The primary focus, she said, is to make the youth more aware and capable of resisting pressure from their peers who are into illegal drugs.
“We want our advocates to instead set a trend among their peers that being associated with drug users is not an ‘in’ thing. We want that culture for our millennials,” she added.