PRO-6 launches anti-illegal drugs program for grade school children

ILOILO CITY, Philippines — The Police Regional Office-6 this week launched the anti-illegal drugs advocacy program for Grades 5 and 6 pupils in Western Visayas.

The program was patterned after the Drug Abuse Resistance Education, or DARE, which was founded by the Los Angeles Police Department in California, USA, in 1983 to educate students and the youths on substance abuse prevention and the dangers of joining gangs.

Due to the success of DARE in the US, the Philippines had adopted it, but it did not immediately kicked off in Western Visayas until last Monday when the PRO-6 decided to use it in its anti-illegal drugs campaign.

Superintendent Gilbert Gorero, PRO-6 public information officer, admitted however that there was no consistency of the program due to budget constraints and a limited number of training officers.

Gorero was optimistic though that the DARE’s launching would lead to its successful implementation throughout Region 6, and it will be integrated into the anti-illegal drugs demand reduction campaign.

The first step would be the conduct of an 80-hour training of selected police community relations personnel from different police offices in the region. They will in turn train other officers from their respective offices and all of them will go to pre-identified schools for an hour-class on the law on illegal drugs, the ill effects and rehabilitation, among others.

Why Grade 5 and Grade 6 pupils? “Because this is the age of curiosity. They tend to ask a lot and we don’t want them to be misled into trying illegal drugs,” Gorero explained, although the program will soon be opened to other grade levels.

Gorero also likened the DARE implementation to the “Pulis Ko, Titser Ko” program of the PNP. But while DARE focuses on illegal drugs, the “Pulis Ko, Titser Ko” program tackled anti-criminality.

The DARE program will run for 17 weeks, with one policeman-teacher conducting classes in two to five schools in a day, he added.  (FREEMAN)