Drug-influenced towns down in Cagayan Valley

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya – The Philippine National Police’s continued drive against illegal drugs in Cagayan Valley has reaped good results with a significant drop in the total number of drug-influenced villages in the region’s five provinces to date. According to police reports, the number of drug-influenced barangays has been reduced from around 100 during the recent years to now only 78, which represents 2.4 percent of the region’s 3,211 barangays.

Chief Superintendent Ameto Tolentino, Cagayan Valley police director, said this significant downgrade in drug influenced barangays could be attributed to the relentless campaign by the police and other law enforcement agencies as well as the strong involvement of the community in neutralizing illegal drug sources.

This, Tolentino said, was in addition to the government’s constant advocacy in educating the public on the evils of illegal drugs. He said the areas that benefited from this down turn in drug cases were scattered among the region’s four mainland provinces – Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino.

Batanes island maintains its distinction as probably the only province in the country with no records of illegal drugs, according to provincial director Senior Superintendent Delfin Millo.

“One thing I can say is that I have seen that there has been a significant decrease in the number of drug cases here in Nueva Vizcaya, thanks to the good work conducted by the provincial police office,” said Tolentino, adding that shabu and marijuana are the type of drugs being peddled in the region.

Tolentino said that what was achieved against illegal drugs here came about as a result of the strong partnership with the citizenry, who have been instrumental in providing information to authorities in their intelligence build-up on suspected drug peddlers or pushers.

“Some of these (drug-influenced) barangays only have users, others only pushers, meaning that the pushers sell their wares elsewhere. And then when the number of users or pushers have reached a certain level, the barangay where they are thriving will be classified in a higher level,” he said.

According to him, among the areas they are constantly monitoring is Barangay Mabini in Santiago City, Isabela, where the so-called shabu tiangge is located.

The bulk of shabu supply entering the region comes from the National Capital Region after the dismantling of the two shabu laboratories in remote Camiguin and Calayan islands in Cagayan in 1998, which was the country’s first biggest shabu single haul. Tolentino, then a police colonel, was the Cagayan police director when the Taiwanese-manned laboratories were discovered.  – Charlie Lagasca