Sanctions await barangays with no drug list — PDEA

CEBU, Philippines - At least 16 Cebu City barangays will try to beat today’s deadline for the submission of the list of drug personalities in their respective areas to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-7.

If they fail to do so today, PDEA-7 Director Yogi Filemon Ruiz said the names of village chiefs in these barangays will be endorsed to the Department of Interior and Local Government-7 for administrative sanctions.

So far, 62 barangays have already submitted their lists.

Ruiz said none of the city barangays have been declared drug-free.

“Ang atong request gyud, mo-submit sila before the deadline. Ang atong priority gitagaan og punching karon kay ang Cebu City kay atong nakita nga situation kay ang 80 barangays wala pa na-declare as drug-free,” he said.

Ruiz said they need the lists so they could lay down plans or make their own course of action or strategy on how to apprehend the identified drug personalities.

“Kay di man ta kaplano kung asa ta mo-focus kung wala pa ta’y klaro na picture kung asa ang mga targets nato. Once makumpleto nato ang lista, mahimoan og drug mapping asa ning mga drug personalities ug makahimo na ta og strategy para paggukod aning mga tawhana,” he said.

In a separate interview, Association of Barangay Council president Philip Zafra told The FREEMAN that he is confident the 18 barangays can beat PDEA’s deadline.

“Our barangay captains are really fully committed against illegal drugs. They are going to submit those lists definitely today. We have close coordination and cooperation with PDEA and the police. In fact there are many programs lining up in connection with our anti-drug campaign. We just have to rally everyone in this battle. We will always emerge victorious if we are one,” he said.

Zafra attributed the delay to the acquisition of information, as well as the need to validate the data being gathered.

As this developed, Senior Superintendent Eric Noble, Cebu Provincial Police Office director, has urged barangays in Cebu province to start organizing their respective anti-drug councils.

“Yung reports na mga kapitan o mga barangay na tamad mag-organize, yun nga meron ng mga equivalent sanction nyan,” Noble said.

He also said they already identified drug lords in the province and are currently under police’s surveillance.

Earlier, PDEA disclosed that there are 19 drug lords in Central Visayas with 16 of them are operating in Cebu.

“We are aiming for regional priority targets. Every agency (in every region) has top 20 targets. We will not rest until di namo sila makuha,” Ruiz said.

‘Convince Me’

Meanwhile, Noble has invited Luisito Amra, the lawyer of self-confessed drug lord Franz Sabalones, to a meeting at CPPO, following reports that Sabalones has finally changed the course of his life.

Noble said he wanted the lawyer to personally prove to him that Sabalones has indeed changed.

“I am inviting him to my office kasi parang nagbago na daw si Sabalones. I want to hear about that…Kung maramdaman ko yun, maniniwala ako. But as of this time, mukhnag questionable pa siguro. Hindi ko maramdaman eh kung nagbago ba talaga,” Noble said.

Amra earlier claimed that Sabalones is no longer involved in the present illegal drug trade since he is giving regular report to the Philippine National Police headquarters in Manila.

In fact, Amra presented Sabalones’ booklet to the members of the media last week. The booklet entitled “Say no to drugs. Yes to Jesus Christ” contains Bible passages and news articles about him.

Sabalones surrendered to Philippine National Police Director-General Ronald dela Rosa last August 7.

In an order released last January 18, the Court of Appeals issued a freeze order on the bank accounts and properties of Sabalones.

The freeze order is in relation to the investigation conducted by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).

Sabalones’ assets include P76 million in deposits in three bank accounts, six lots, a beach resort in San Fernando, six sports utility vehicles and a 6.4-hectare poultry farm. — Christell Fatima M. Tudtud and Odessa O. Leyson (FREEMAN)