By Reinir Padua
Monday, October 13, 2008
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency is “alarmed” over the spread of drug peddling and abuse in a barangay in San Juan City, a spokesman said yesterday.
Derrick Arnold Carreon, chief of PDEA’s public information office, said that based on information gathered by the agency, Barangay West Crame, located near the national headquarters of the Philippine National Police, is “severely affected” by drug-related activities.
“Majority of the residents are involved in either drug-peddling or drug use,” Carreon told The STAR in an interview.
PDEA agents busted a family-owned drug den last Wednesday and arrested Nelson Bellocillo, 54; Nelson Bellocillo Jr., 20; Marlon Nuñez, 20; and Johnson Conception.
Operatives recovered several sachets containing methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu and traces of shabu weighing more or less 0.5217 gram. The agency said the Bellocillos are “a father-and-son tandem” in drug peddling.
Major Ferdinand Marcelino, director of PDEA’s Special Enforcement Service and Interagency Counternarcotics Operations Network, said the operation was based on video footage of actual drug deals in the area.
According to the agency, the footage showed the drug den’s customers taking shabu even in the presence of children, who Carreon said are corrupted due to the severity of drug-peddling and abuse in the barangay.
Carreon also noted that during the operation last week, operatives found an 80-year-old resident still engaged in drug-peddling.
He also cited the case of Nuñez, a suspect in a drug-related killing. He reportedly stabbed a neighbor earlier this month. Nuñez later admitted committing the crime.
According to Carreon, the agency intends to use a “mutli-pronged approach” to address the drug problem in West Crame.
He said they would go beyond the usual apprehension of those involved in drug-related activities and also include information dissemination on the health and social implications of drug abuse among the residents.
Retrieved from Philippine star online edition, Metro section, October 13, 2008 around 1:15 pm
http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Metro&p=49&type=2&sec=26
We are all aware that the government wants to capture all drug users in the country. What's sad about this news is that our police is not efficient and effective at all. The drug users who are near their headquarters could not have been discovered without some tips from citizens. If they were efficient, they would have captured those guys long before since those drug users were right under their noses. What more if the hideouts of other drug users were located at some unknown area, then those users would not have been captured.
Before, I usually hear from the news that some police officers were drug pushers, and they aren't put into prison because they have the power and the position. Maybe, the reason why police just captured these drug users is probably because they know it long before and they're earning big bucks from it and those people pay them some more money for protection. These are just some of the worst case scenarios, but for now let's all be glad for another group of drug users has been captured. Let's just hope the police would become more efficient with their job in the coming future, and hope that the police would realize that their job is important because minors are now being influence to use drugs, and if they don't do some actions as early as now, maybe the youth of our country would soon be seen as some drug users and pushers on the streets.
14 comments:
I also think that police power were not that efficient and effective in their responsibilities. Sometimes, we may even hear that these police were actually those who were protecting drug dealers and they even work as bodyguards of the drug pushers. However, with this news, I think it is a little good news to our society knowing that they had captured a group of drug dealers. On the other hand, we also know that despite of the one group that was captured, there are still more scattered around us and watching closely for their next customers or I must say next victims - the youth.
It's a good thing that drug users / pushers were captured. these drug addicts are not going to be of help to make our country prosper. i believe that there are drug users/pushers that are big people and that they are being protected by high officials. maybe it's true that our police are inefficient but sometimes the citizens are also not cooperative. i do hope that people could be more focused on fighting against drug pushers because illegal drugs could ruin the lives of people.
This is why I would rather prefer the middle easterners way of disciplining their people.
An eye for an eye,
A tooth for a tooth.
FEAR my friends, is that of which our people lack of against the government. We set our belts too loose, and some can't help but to abuse that fact.
Kill those who have killed someone and see, in a few months time criminal cases would drop. This could be proven by the fact seen during the time when the death penalty was still in force.
I agree, police officers are inefficient and at most times even ineffective. I think of all the crimes that are happening in our country the police only catch around 10%. But it is good news that the police have captured another group of drug dealers.
Maybe if the government had better compensations for the police officers they would be more dedicated to their work. Because I think one of the top reasons why they take "Kotongs" or bribes is because of the lack of compensations given to them. Police officers are the ones that would protect the people from criminals so it is just right to give them extra compensations to encourage them to do their work right.
In my opinion, I think that the punishments for these crimes should be severe like thieves having their hands cut off so that they wouldn't be able to steal again, rapists having their 'tool' cut off and etc etc. I know it's brutal and against the human rights but once it is implemented and people see how brutal the punishment is, they will stop doing this kind of crimes because of fear. Surely, the Philippines would be a place wherein the criminals are afraid to commit crime.
Back to topic.
I somehow feel that the police would only start to look for the drug dealers when the citizens report. Why? It could be because the police benefits from these drug dealers or they are just afraid of them and needed support of the citizens. I agree the police are not efficient when it comes to capturing these villains. This is probably one of the reasons why crime is increasing.
We may think that the problem here are the small peddlers. They may capture millions of small drug pushers but don't think drug pushing will stop since drug lords are always on the loose. In hard times like this a person who is starving will do anything just to put something in their mouth. This is main reason why even outside police camps drug dealing is rampant.
drug users are everywhere. people try to use drugs just to know what it would feel, but eventually they get addicted to it. i think that the police who try to capture drug users are somewhat inefficient. it's just a matter of how drug users plan or how the police don't really take their job seriously. drugs are sold everywhere and are sometimes hidden in small areas. drugs are those that help people to get away with their problems and so as young as 15 use drugs already. it is a matter of influence. I hope that the police would take this subject as serious as possible to avoid and eliminate the drug users in the society...
Something to be happy about. Dealers, Pushers, Users, whatever,---CAPTURED.
One down, thousands to go. (=I)
Where do most police have their training? Camp where? What School?
I want to bulldoze it. (joke)
Why is that only few of the police officers remain honest and reliable? THEY DO NOT LIVE BY THEIR TITLE. what a total shame.
drugs---definitely illegal
police---should be capturing, preventing crimes such as drug dealing blah blah
police+drugs= syndicate
Police officers should be protecting us. They shouldn't be encouraging or letting people use drugs.
just where is your dignity?
Drug abuse gives a great opportunity in earning cash but it comes with a great risk too. I sometimes think of selling drugs and gaining a big profit from it but I don't want to end up behind bars. You can't totally eliminate illegal drug related activity from the country. You can only lessen it. San Juan City is now being infected with drug peddling and abuse. This should not be tolerated because this instances usually end up in crime-related activities.
I remember watching a anti illegal drug patrol interviewed in one television show where the leader of the group said they are always happy after a night of work. Why? because when they caught some drug users/pusher, they contributed in making their place better because they caught a suspect. Meanwhile if they don't, it means that there are no (or maybe less would be a better term) drug activities in the area. So it is an unending process.
it's nice that the police is taking some "little" action to solve drug related cases. Eliminating drug in the Philippines is not an easy task due to inefficiency of the police these past years that has caused the worsening of the situation. To achieve drug-free Philippines, along with operation to capture drug pusher and drug supplier, the government should intensify its information campaign against drugs; for it will only lower the supply when government only catches drug pushers, but together with information campaign, demand for drug will also be lesser.
May nahuli nga silang drug users, dealers and pushers pero hindi parin dun nagstostop lahat. Tuloy-tuloy parin ang paglaganap nito. hindi ko talaga makita ang magandang naidudulot nito sa katawan ng tao. tingin ko rin na nagagawa ito ng isang tao dahil sa kung ano ang kinalakihan at kapaligiran nito. dapat na mahinto ang ganitong problema dahil sinisira lang ng droga ang buhay ng isang tao.
i agree with this aticle opinion. the Police dose not concern about serious of drug circumstance in our society. but we need to think reason that why police protect drug user for that bucks or sometihing. i think there is two reason. First, the police does not has sense of duty. second, they need more money for their life due to low salary. anyway, i think wrong is wrong. The police must have sense of duty and have to protect our society.
A lot of small time drug pushers are being caught by the police, its actually good news. But can't the police locate those big time drug dealers or those who manufactures the drugs. Because eventhough they catch a lot of small time drug pushers, illegal drug sale wouldn't stop because the people who manufactures it aren't stopped. Also in connection, sometimes these big time drug dealers have connections with the police or even some government officials. They actually pay these people huge amount of money for protection. So why not arrests also these people? The punishment for these people (drug dealers and those who protect them) should be severe enough for them to learn their lesson and also for others drug dealers who aren't yet caught to be scared or for these people to stop selling illegal drugs.
That's good news... But the police should put a lot effort to track down the drug dealers cause they provide drugs for those who uses it.
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