A non-government organization and accredited partner of the state drug agency has partnered with the Philippine Confederation of Reserve Officers Training Corps Association to help President Rodrigo Duterte achieve the eradication of the illegal drugs menace in the country.
The People’s Volunteer Against Illegal Drugs, an accredited partner of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, has inked a memorandum of agreement with the confederation of ROTC to serve as a catalyst in mobilizing the citizenry against the dangerous effects of all forms of illegal drugs.
Former police Col. Rodrigo Bonifacio, chairman of PVAID, said the partnership was in line with the Philippine Anti-Illegal Drugs Strategy Five Pillars of Action of the government: to include drug supply reduction, drug demand reduction, alternative development, civic awareness and response, and regional and international cooperation.
“We are all aware that the first pillar of action is the primary task of the PDEA and drug problem in the country remains a serious problem which President Duterte has stressed should,” Bonifacio said.
The war on drugs has claimed the lives of thousands of drug suspects, either peddlers or pushers in various police operations across the country since Duterte took office in July 2016.
However, despite the efforts to stop the proliferation of illegal drugs, the entry of shabu in different ports in the country remained unabated, the most recent of which is the seizure of P4.3 billion worth of shabu concealed in a metal lifters at Bureau of Customs.
With the proliferation of illegal drugs, the citizenry, through the partnership of PVAID and ROTC, will likely be a vital vehicle in stamping out the infiltration of drug peddlers and pushers in communities, Bonifacio said.
He said their group was conducting training facilitators designed to be deployed in different villages to inculcate six relevant modules, among them drug abuse, responsible parenting, psychotherapy, personality disorder, and values formation.
“This is the response of PVAID and contribution to the national anti-drug campaign, which was under the second pillar of action—the preventive education and values formation drive [drug demand reduction].”
ROTC chairman Florante Gerdan, for his part, said the confederation of ROTC association would be a vital component in pursuing the government’s war on drugs.
“The ROTC association is an essential force multiplier in the campaign against illegal drugs and the PVAID is optimistic in winning the war on drugs,” Gerdan said.
