Diño to village execs: Solve drug woes or face sanctions

ANTI-DRUG MEET. Barangay officials in Negros Occidental attend the Anti-Drug Summit 2018 organized by the Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte National Executive Coordinating Committee Region 6B in Victorias City on Sunday, July 8, 2019. (Photo by Nanette L. Guadalquiver)

BACOLOD CITY — A ranking official of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has warned barangay officials who will fail to act against illegal drugs in their respective communities of possible sanctions.

Undersecretary for Barangay Affairs Martin Diño issued the warning during Sunday’s Anti-Drug Summit 2018 in Victorias City attended by about 6,000 barangay officials and personnel in Negros Occidental.

“Nakabantay kami, nakabantay ang DILG ngayon (We are watching you. The DILG is watching you now), he said.

Diño said the agency “will see to it” that all villages will have functional Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Councils (BADACs).

“Dahil kung hindi, meron kayong haharapin na mga penalty from DILG (If not, you will face a penalty from the DILG),” he added.

Diño, a former barangay captain himself, said the newly-elected barangay officials should fulfill their promise during the election campaign to fight illegal drugs.

“When you were campaigning, you promised ‘heaven and earth’ to your constituents, to protect them from illegal drugs and criminality. Ngayon, panindigan niyo ang inyong pinangako (Now, fulfill that promise) most especially in the barangays which have many reported drug pushers and drug addicts,” he told the village officials.

Diño said the new set of barangay officials is given two months from the time they assumed office on June 30, to submit a report on the reorganized BADAC.

“We filed a case for dereliction of duty before the Office of the Ombudsman against those who previously failed to submit. We will do it again. We might even submit their names to the President to speed up their suspension, if they have failed to submit,” he added.

The Anti-Drug Summit 2018, organized by the Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte National Executive Coordinating Committee (MRRD NECC) Region 6B, was also attended by Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go and Land Bank of the Philippines Director Jesus Hinlo Jr. together with provincial officials led by Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. and Vice Governor Eugenio Lacson.