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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.
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