Pampanga Gov. Lilia G. Pineda on Wednesday (Jan. 25) urged town and city mayors in the province to intensify their campaign against illegal drugs.
In a meeting of the provincial peace and order council at the Kingsborough International Convention Center in this city, the governor reiterated Malacañang’s request to local chief executives to support the government effort to stamp out the drug menace.
Though more than 11,000 confessed drug pushers and users have voluntarily surrendered in Pampanga, the governor is not satisfied with the supposed reformation of the surrenderees.
The governor noted cases that many of those who have surrendered returned to their illegal activities involving illegal drugs.
Pineda, who was with other provincial governors in a recent meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte, said that with the many cases of surrenderees returning to the illegal vice, the government program is rendered futile.
Governor Pineda urged the mayors to support President Duterte in his war against drugs.
“Bakit kailangan makiusap ang presidente sa atin na tumulong sa drug campaign e trabaho natin yan tapos pangulo lang ang binabanatan sa media. Dapat tayo ang pinupuna [ng media],” Pineda said.
Vice Governor Dennis Pineda, chairman of the provincial disaster risk reduction and management council, urged the police department to conduct followup random screening among surrenderees to ensure that they do not go back to using, or selling, illegal drugs.
Drug testing kits were allocated for the continuous monitoring of those who are undergoing or have passed the reformation program.
The provincial government, though, was baffled why of the 40,000 kits made available, only around 6,000 have been utilized.
“If the towns need the kits, all they have to do is make a request and we can dispense anytime of the day,” the vice governor said.
Vice governor Pineda also reminded the provincial police, headed by Senior Superintendent Joel Consulta, to turnover for another provincial government program those surrenderees who will be tested positive for drugs even during or after their reformation program.