CALAMBA CITY — A total of 52 out of 54 villages in this city have organized volunteer teams to implement the revised guidelines of “MASA MASID” or “Mamamayang Ayaw Sa Anomalya, Mamamayang Ayaw Sa Iligal Na Droga” program of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
DILG City Director Lenie Bautista said the revised guidelines adopt the multi-sectoral and mass-based approach, heightening community volunteerism to help eradicate the social menace and sustain peaceful, orderly and safe communities.
Barangay volunteers gathered here in four batches, composed of 13 village teams per batch for their two-day orientation seminar at the city hall on November 15-16.
“The program aims to promote synergy between the state and private sector to help rid the country of corruption, illegal drugs, criminality, violent extremism and other threats to peace and security,” Bautista said.
She added that volunteers from civil society organizations (CSOs), such as faith-based, people’s and non-governmental organizations have been enjoined to become part of community engagements through their village chiefs as chairpersons of the Peace and Order Committee of the village council.
Also, some of the village volunteer teams could become members of the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council (BADAC) and the Barangay Peace and Order Council in the MASA MASID team (MMT), which will also mobilize recruitment for more MASA MASID volunteers (MMVs) in their respective villages.
She said that complementing the advocacy campaign to heighten the level of awareness on fighting corruption, illegal drugs, criminality, violent extremism and other threats to peace and security is the reporting system under strict confidentiality, to be established in various modes like drop box, email, text messages, hotline phones for information gathering and assessment for referral to the appropriate agencies.
Bautista, however, clarified that all reports from the volunteers go through a process by the Technical Working Group (TWG), which is composed of the DILG Field Officer as chair, with members from the Philippine National Police (PNP), local government unit (LGU) administrator, Liga ng Barangay (LnB) president, representatives of CSOs and faith-based organizations (FBOs), representatives of the City Anti-Drug Abuse Council and City Peace and Order Council.
She pointed out that processed information on illegal drugs will be relayed accordingly to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA); on corruption, to the city legislative council or to the Civil Service Commission (CSC); on criminality, to the PNP; and on violent extremism and other threats to peace and security, to the Department of National Defense (DND) or the PNP, for appropriate action and monitoring.
Supervising the TWG is the Steering Committee composed of the City Mayor as chair with the DILG field officer, chief of police, and FBO representative as members.
Bautista also said that the program encourages community participation and partnership building with the government to achieve a drug-free and safe environment that “ought to be everyone’s concern”. (Zen Trinidad/PNA)
