LINGAYEN, PANGASINAN — The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Regional Office I on Thursday formally opened the two-day ‘Training of Trainers for Barangay Drug Clearing Program (BDCP) Implementers in the Province of Pangasinan’ at the Pangasinan Provincial Training Center here.
The training, which will run until June 9, aims to enhance the capability of local government units (LGU) in the province who will primarily be responsible in sustaining the implementation of the BDCP.
Discussed during the training sessions included Barangay Drug Clearing Program (BDCP), Advocacy and the Drug-Free Workplace Policy.
Special Assistant to the Governor Von Mark Mendoza, who represented Gov. Ramon V. Guico III, bared that one thing he would like to reinforce is the directive of the governor for Pangasinan to be a drug-free province.
“Yes, drug problem is a major issue that we have to face as a province not only as a matter of enforcement but we also have to look at it as a health problem. And, that is the challenge to every LGUs in the province of Pangasinan,” Mendoza said.
For his part, PDEA Regional Director Joel B. Plaza expressed gratitude to the provincial government of Pangasinan for conducting an advocacy, prevention and intervention activities related to drug problem in the community.
To him, BDCP is a very important program to address the drug problem in our country because there is a need for whole of the nation approach from communities, barangays, municipality, national agencies and local government units.
He described the venue as very conducive for training, which signifies provincial government’s sincerity to address the drug problem in Pangasinan.
Based on the Regional BDCP Accomplishment Report, as of May 28 this year, Pangasinan had 92 “drug-free” barangays and 1,123 “drug-cleared” barangays or 89.08 percent, while there were 149 remaining drug-affected barangays or 10.91 percent.
A drug-free barangay or village refers to an unaffected barangay that has been vetted and confirmed by Regional Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug Clearing (ROCBDC), according to a memorandum of the the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
Other other hand, a drug-cleared barangay is a barangay that was previously classified as drug-affected and had gone through the BDCP and has been declared as drug-cleared by the ROCBDC.
Also present during the 1st day of the two-day training were retired Col. Carlo Resurreccion, PADAC secretariat head, Seymoure Darius A. Sanchez, PDEA assistant regional director, and Rechie Camacho, PDEA Pangasinan director.
(PangasinanPIO)
