The Interior department warned on Friday that governors and mayors may be charged with neglect of duty if they fail to crush the problem of illegal drugs in their areas.
DILG Secretary Ismael Sueno also said ‘inept’ local executives may lose their National Police Commission deputation, which gives them direct operational supervision over police units in their jurisdiction, if they do not show results in the war on illegal substances.
“We are giving them six months till December. If they cannot lower the number of drug addicts in their area, they may be charged with serious neglect of duty,” Sueno said.
The law provides that local chief executives (LCEs) must eradicate the drug problem in their constituencies.
Under the new directive, if a governor or mayor fails to perform the additional functions and duties, he or she shall be deemed engaging in acts which negate the effectiveness of the peace and order campaign which, once validated or established, shall be a ground for the suspension or withdrawal of his/her deputation by the Napolcom.
Palace spokesperson Ernesto Abella had earlier said this empowers local executives to initiate the fight against illegal drugs in their communities.
“It is one of the reasons why mayors of cities and municipalities are deputized by the Napolcom vis-a-vis the Philippine National Police [PNP] so they can have a direct operational supervision over PNP personnel assigned in their respected areas,” Abella said.
In November 2015, the Napolcom en banc issued Memorandum Circular No. 2015-003, which prescribes the additional functions and duties of LCEs as Napolcom deputies.
Sueno has instructed the DILG’s Legal and Legislative Liaison Service to prioritize the probe into local executives as soon as the department receives the order of Malacañang.
More than 8,000 villages in the country are plagued with the drug menace, according to data from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
It says around 20.51 percent or 8,629 villages out of the 42,065 villages nationwide have drug-related cases.
Metro Manila is the most drug-affected area with 92.10 percent of its cities affected, followed by Southern Tagalog at 33.78 percent.