DAVAO CITY — Davao Oriental Governor Nelson Dayanghirang on Saturday challenged barangay (village) officials to clear their areas of illegal drugs, following the uprooting of some PHP4 million worth of fully-grown marijuana and seedlings on a two-hectare land in the mountainous area of Tarragona, Davao Oriental.
Dayanghirang reminded barangay officials of their huge responsibility in activating their anti-drug abuse councils.
“I know that there are some barangays that never took the said council very seriously. Most importantly, there should be no marijuana plantation left in your different areas. As barangay officials, you should also know everything that is happening in your area of jurisdiction,” Dayanghirang said. “I should know as I was in your shoes before. Remember, you can be charged administratively for any negligence.”
He also warned those involved in the illegal drugs trade that government authorities will catch them “no matter how far they are.”
Last week, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), in collaboration with the 701st Brigade, the Davao Oriental Police Maneuver Force d the Tarragona Municipal police, swooped down on Barangay Tomoaong and Tubaon and uprooted about 22,500 hills of fully grown marijuana and some 2,000 grams of marijuana seeds with an estimated street value of PHP4 million.
The operation was part of the government’s campaign to suppress the supply of illegal marijuana in the country, according to PDEA-11 director Antonio Rivera.
Rivera said the supply was immediately burned at the site in the municipal grounds of Tarragona to show that there is no recycling of drug evidence.
Dayanghirang said the operation was a “huge breakthrough in the government’s fight against illegal drugs”.
Provincial Information Officer Karen Lou Deloso said the province has the most number of drug-cleared municipalities in the entire Davao Region.
She said eight of the 12 municipalities cleared of illegal drugs are in Davao Oriental.
Of the 183 barangays in the province, 159 villages have already been declared as drug-cleared.
Davao Oriental has the most number of graduates from the Community-based Rehabilitation and Aftercare Program in the region and is home to the first reformation center called Balay Silangan. (Lilian Mellejor/PNA)
