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Ilocos Norte governor Imee R. Marcos with regional law enforcement officers (Photo by Alaric Yanos). |
By Edison Justin Deus
PGIN-CMO
Laoag City—The Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) and the Provincial Anti- Drug Abuse Council (PADAC) declared the towns of Marcos and Carasi as “drug-free” and endorsed 84.75% of 513 drug-affected barangays in Ilocos Norte as “drug-cleared” in their yearend report and joint meeting on December 22, 2017, at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan Session Hall in this city.
Other agenda of the meeting included reports on peace and order, the insurgency situation update, the transition into federal government, and purpose of the PPOC.
Ilocos Norte governor and PPOC chairperson Ma. Imelda Josefa “Imee” R. Marcos congratulated the Ilocos Norte police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) for the tremendous drop in crimes against persons and crimes against property, and for their remarkable Oplan Tokhang, which registered a high number of surrendered drug users and pushers in Ilocos Norte.
Law enforcers confiscated a total of PHP2.1-M worth of drugs in the province during the conduct of “Operation Double Barrel Reloaded” from July 2016 to September 2017, while 6,277 illegal drug pushers and users surrendered during the Oplan Tokhang.
The most notable accomplishment of the PNP and PDEA operatives was the arrest of a high-value target through a buy-bust operation last September in the town of Pasuquin.
Out of the over six thousand who surrendered, officials assessed 5,830 for enrolment into the community-based rehabilitation program.
PDEA Ilocos Norte agent Lanibelle Ancheta also reported that the Regional Oversight Committee (ROC) has certified 80 barangays as “drug-cleared” by while it also delisted 745 drug personalities who earlier surrendered. Meanwhile, they also validated 92 other barangays as “drug-cleared” and are up for endorsement to the ROC.
PPOC updates on crime rates, insurgency
Volume of index crime decreased by 33.50% from January to September 2017: rape, homicide, and physical injury cases decreased, while murder increased by only one case. There was also a remarkable decrease in robbery, theft, and cattle-rustling.
Law enforcers meanwhile arrested 195 persons in the campaign against illegal gambling. As for the campaign against loose firearms, 1,786 registered for license-to-own-and-possess-firearms (LTOPF), while they confiscated 80 firearms.
The police also apprehended two of the most wanted persons in the province.
In the illegal logging campaign, law enforcers arrested 19 persons for illegal logging. The provincial deputy for operations’ report states that they recovered an estimated PHP880,000 worth of logs. The campaigns against Illegal fishing, cattle rustling, carnapping, and illegal quarry also noted significant accomplishments.
Early during the meeting, Ms. Marcos stated that the peace talks between the New People’s Army (NPA) and the government were unsuccessful. Hence, Ilocos Norte’s military troops should expect continuous encounters in the province’s territory. However, as of the third quarter of 2017, the Armed Forces of the Philippines detected no “enemy activity” in the province.
The AFP continues to conduct information drives and leadership summit to educate the youth against insurgency.
POPS plan 2018
The Peace and Order and Public Safety (POPS) objectives for 2018 are to eliminate the supply of illegal drugs, enhance drug awareness and education, prevent robbery and theft incidents, prevent shooting incidents in the province, prevent crimes against women and children, increase awareness on gender-related, improve traffic schemes, reduces disaster casualties, and strengthen crisis management, among others.