Last week, the Region’s top cop, Chief Supt. Tom Banas, was in Negros Oriental to call on the police to continue their operations against drug personalities without letup.
It was a timely advice, given the willingness of some drug pushers to stop at nothing to promote the deadly vice.
The other week, a policeman paid the ultimate sacrifice while in the performance of his duties as he succumbed to a stab wound inflicted by a drug suspect whom they were arresting in Zamboanguita.
Negros Oriental is strategically located along the drug route, which explains the continued availability of illegal drugs, most common of which is shabu. The ease of travel from Mindanao to Manila via our ports, or our unprotected shorelines, makes it very convenient for people with illicit intentions to ply their trade.
We may not have factories of these synthetic drugs in our Province, but drug personalities keep getting a fresh supply every now and then from neighboring provinces.
There is also a dangerous condition that leads to the proliferation of drugs in our community, which is the widely-suspected collusion of certain people in authority with the drug pushers.
Surely, reports of this nature would not be unknown to the good people who are fighting the drug menace.
In our own little ways, we can be of help to our police force in fighting the drug war. Foremost of which is in information-gathering. Let’s be on the lookout for suspicious activities in our neighborhoods and report them to the police.
This war may not be won overnight, but with everyone’s cooperation, the dream of a drug-free community may be realized within our lifetimes.