ILOILO CITY -- A three-day training kicked-off in this city Monday to strengthen the skills of police officers in Western Visayas on educating the public about the ill effects of illegal drugs.
Spearheaded by the Drug-Free World Organization Inc. (DFWOI) for Philippines, the training gathered more or less 170 police community relations officers from the different municipal police stations in the region.
In a media interview, Robert Anderson, president of the DFWOI, said that they aimed at improving the skills of police officers on how to encourage the public to get rid of illegal drugs as the current administration is on full campaign against illegal drugs.
“We are here to support through drug education so people don’t go on drugs in the first place,” he said.
He said that they would present during the training sessions tips on how to become effective communicators so they could encourage the public to stay away from illegal drugs.
According to Anderson, individuals are linked to illegal drugs because of many reasons such as hopelessness and lack of feeling full integrity.
“Through education and other tools that they can use, they can recover their selves,” he said.
Aside from this region, the organization has already conducted the same training in some areas in Luzon.
Meanwhile, Supt. Gilbert Gorero, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office 6 said that the participants are expected to re-echo the knowledge they learned during the training when they conduct dialogue, symposium and other community engagements.
He said that the training could really help the region especially that they are currently focusing on the clearing of villages from illegal drugs.
“We hope to further increase awareness and consistency of the community on the war on illegal drugs,” he said. (PNA)
Photo by Cindy Ferrer
