ANTI-DRUG STING. Police Regional Office-Central Visayas chief, Brig. Gen. Jerry Bearis, is seen talking to a drug suspect arrested in one of 280 intelligence-driven anti-drug sting operations that started on Dec. 19 last year. Bearis on Thursday (Jan. 11, 2023) said the operations yielded a total of four kilos of shabu and 404 grams of marijuana with a total value of PHP27.4 million and the arrest of 351 drug personalities. (Photo courtesy of PRO-7's Lt. Col. Maria Aurora Rayos)
CEBU CITY – The Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) on Thursday said the police have confiscated a total of four kilos of suspected shabu worth PHP27.4 million in 280 intelligence-driven anti-drug sting operations in Region 7.
Brig. Gen. Jerry Bearis, PRO-7 regional director, said the joint operations conducted within a period of 22 days since Dec. 19 last year resulted in the arrest of 351 drug personalities.
Also confiscated in the same period were 404.60 grams of marijuana worth PHP48,552, he said.
Bearis said the Buhay Ingatan, Droga’y Ayawan (BIDA) program of Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benjamin Abalos, Jr., has greatly contributed to the “remarkable accomplishments of PRO-7 in its all-out war against illegal drugs.”
“The program also gave us the opportunity to strengthen our partnership with the community, thus broadening our network and source of information in the pursuit of these drug personalities across the region,” he said in a statement.
Bearis said the police in the region will continue to intensify its anti-illegal drug campaign using information from the volunteers on the ground regarding drug personalities operating in their communities.
“We are all in this together towards a great environment for our children and for the best version of our country’s future,” he said.
Bearis, meanwhile, lauded the city government of Talisay for launching a community-based program called “Anti-Illegal Drug Advocates” with a group of volunteers, including drug surrenderers, who will assist the local police in addressing the drug problem.
Aligned with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s approach to suppressing the use of illegal drugs, the PRO-7 chief said the police will continue to innovate intelligence-driven operations to promote the prevention of drug use and rehabilitation of drug dependents, citing their duty to protect their human rights.
He encouraged all law enforcement units to adhere to Philippine National Police chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr.’s peace and security framework called M+K+K=K which stands for “Malasakit+Kaayusan+Kapayapaan = Tungo sa Kaunlaran”. (PNA)
