EDUCATION EXECS TO SHED LIGHT ON DRUG SCENE

CONTINUING its investigation on the scale of illegal drug operations
in the city, the City Council will hear Monday the regional director
of the Department of Health (DOH), whose survey reportedly placed
Cagayan de Oro City at the top of the list for drug abuse
among high school students.

DOH Regional Director Julito Sabornido was expected to appear along
with Estrella Abid-Babano, regional director of the Department of
Education (DepEd) and Edna Maghinay, City Schools Division officer-in-charge.

According to the City Council agenda bulletin, the three officials
were being summoned to "shed light, in aid of legislation, regarding
the DOH research" which purportedly showed that "Region 10,
particularly Cagayan de Oro City, tops the list for illegal drug use
among high school students."

That report presumably appeared in the November 16 issue of the
Philippine Star, but a follow-up by this paper showed that neither
Cagayan de Oro City nor any particular place was mentioned in the article.

However, Vice Mayor Michelle Spiers explained that Cagayan de Oro
was later mentioned in a current affairs program over ABS-CBN an
evening after the publication.

The report said that about 160,000 or nearly one percent of the
country's 20 million high school students have used drugs.

Sabornido and the two other education officials are expected to
elucidate the extent of illegal drug use among students, and whether
the media reports on the matter were accurate.

The legislative inquiry on illegal drugs started last week after
Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, citing well-placed intelligence,
said Cagayan de Oro City is being used as a "transit point" of
illegal drug couriers.

Superintendent Nerio Bermudo, head of the Philippine Drug
Enforcement Agency (PDEA) who was grilled for hours by councilors,
assailed Duterte's statement, and denied any knowledge of the DOH
survey pointing to the alleged mounting drug abuse among high school students.

The response irritated councilors who demanded Bermudo to review
PDEA's assessment of illegal drug activities in the city, and to
enforce "concrete actions" against drug trafficking.

Following the City Council inquiry, police raided last Tuesday a
drug den in Barangay 21, one of the two areas authorities said where
drug trafficking is prevalent.

Four residents were arrested while having a "pot-session," said PO2
Nolasco Gaabucayan of Cogon Police.

Spiers said she will sponsor a resolution commending the police
officers who conducted the operation.

Village leader Modesto Ligtas, whose area in Barangay 35 is known
for rampant illegal drug trade, believes Duterte's statement to be
reliable, citing the situation in his own barangay.

Ligtas identified Garcia and Don Ramon Chavez streets as "peddling
areas" in his barangay -- the illegal drugs being supplied by a
Maranao trader from Marawi, re-packed near a mosque in said area and
distributed by runners.

Citing unnamed sources within the barangay, he said the illegal
drugs are stashed in a truckload of sacks of ginger (luy-a), hauled
and repacked in Cagayan de Oro for eventual delivery and
distribution in Davao City using the Bukidnon route.