The Committee on Peace and Order and Public Safety chairperson Board Member Ricky Masamayor, revealed on Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2022, his committee‘s findings about the alleged claim by Board Member Dionisio Victor Balite that illegal drug trade and the use of drugs are still “rampant” in the province.
Balite even urged to require all public officials to undergo drug testing.
The findings were based on an inquiry of the said committee conducted on Dec. 6, 2021 with officers from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Provincial Intelligence Branch (PIB), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and Bohol Police Provincial Office (BPPO) in attendance.
PDEA’s provincial director Joseph Theodore Atila said that the drug situation in the province is less alarming compared to other areas in the country.
Atila further said that describing the drug trade here as “rampant” is subjective. The provincial PDEA chief said that around 410 out of the 1,109 barangays in the province are considered to be drug-free or have been cleared to be having any form of drug activity.
He revealed that illegal drugs in the province are being transported from Cebu to Bohol islands using small boats. There are also drug trading activities that happen in the middle of the sea, he added.
The PDEA noted that drugs may have been also smuggled into the province through mail parcels. It has been reported that cargo vessels are being used to transport illegal drugs into Bohol.
Lt. Col. John Kareen Escober of the PIB said his agency is coordinating closely with the PDEA to stop the entry of illegal drugs into the province.
Moreover, regarding Balite’s call that all candidates for the 2022 elections must undergo compulsory drug testing, Provincial Legal Officer Julius Gregory Delgado said the matter is subject to a prospective resolution of the Commission on Elections, but right now drug testing is not a requirement for those running in next year’s polls.
