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WOMEN PARTICIPATION --- The women
sector in Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao takes part in the advocacy of
cleansing their community from illegal drugs and gambling. (ANNE B. ACOSTA - MINDANAO EXPOSE’)
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COTABATO CITY --- Some four
hundred women participated in the recent Seminar- Workshop on Cessation of Illegal
Drug Abuse and Illegal Gambling sponsored by the local government of Datu Saudi
Ampatuan in Maguindanao last February 16 held at the municipal compound.
Municipal Administrator Mastura Tapa said that out
of the 400 participants from the women sector, there were at least 20
Indigenous People (Teduray women) who attended the activity.
“We invited resource speakers from the Philippine
Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Civil-Military Operations Group of the
Philippine Army, Ustadzes from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, and those from
the 2nd Mechanized Battalion,” said Tapa.
Aside from the local government officials, Tapa
said barangay chairmen of the town were also present as they play a major role
in the dissemination of information.
Mayor Bai Anida U. Dimaukom said it is universal
for parents, most especially among women, to be the light of the family in the desire
for the good future of their children.
“We do this as part of our commitment in the
advocacy. With the help of our women, we want our youths to be educated than be
involved in dangerous drugs as this is punishable by law and destroys the
character and health of a person. The youths have to be guided and educated on
the ill-consequences of engaging in illegal drugs and other forms of vices,” the
lady chief executive said.
Dimaukom said it is their desire to protect the youths
of Datu Saudi Ampatuan against bad influences.
“We want them to comprehend that involvement in
illegal drug activities could ruin their chance for a good future. We must infuse
to them the intelligent choices, founded on a personal conviction, to stay away
from drugs in preparation for the better opportunities that life has to offer,”
said Dimaukom.
Further, Tapa said they want to build a community that
is self-reliant and self-policing against dangerous drugs.
“To realize this aspiration, we have set on empowering
everyone comprising the community with the help of our women sector,” he said.
Tapa said it is still the PDEA which is on the front-line
of defense against dangerous drugs in the grassroot level.
“But they cannot do it alone. With the help of the barangay
officials and the populace in the communities, they will get familiarized with
the indicators that determine if there is presence of illegal drug facilities
within their communities and acquaint them with the protocol in reporting such
to authorities,” he said.
Tapa said women are the touch base and the very
heart of every community. “In this regard, they would want them to build the desire
to take part in creating a safe and drug-free environment for them and their
children to live in.”
“Our women should understand they have equally
critical roles to play in driving away drugs from their communities,” he said.
In another development, after being booted out from
President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs, the Philippine National Police (PNP) is
now be entering the "war against illegal gambling."
PNP chief Ronald dela Rosa takes the stance of the
national leadership in weeding out the country from all forms of illegal
gambling activities that contribute to moral decay and instead provide an
economic support system that could offer better economic choices than engaging
in illegal activities.
Dela Rosa said that based on his own experience,
illegal gambling activities, if left unchecked, could breed corruption and
mutate into other forms of organized crime, including drug-trafficking, illegal
vices, money laundering, and kidnapping.
Tapa said they support the war against illegal
gambling.
“Women play a major role in this advocacy by
helping educate the young ones in their household not to engage in illegal
gambling activities,” said Tapa. (GILMHAR
A. LAO & ANNE B. ACOSTA - MINDANAO EXPOSE’)
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