MAKATI ALLOCATES P990,000 FOR ANTI-DRUG DRIVE

A MEMORANDUM of Agreement (MOA) between the city government of Makati and
its local police was signed yesterday under which thirty-three barangays
pledged a total of P990,000 yearly as logistics for the police's anti-drug
campaign.

Mayor Elenita Binay said in a press conference that appropriations of
P30,000 for every barangay have already been set aside in the city's
coffers to be given to the police drug enforcement unit.

The said MOA signing was the first in the history of local government units
(LGUs) in the metropolis where all barangay units avowed full support in
sharing their funds with the local police in fighting drug abuse in the
city albeit it being adjudged having the lowest mortality rate of drug
abusers and cases in Metro Manila.

Signatories to the MOA were the city mayor herself, Southern Police
District Office director Supt. Manuel Cabigon, chief of police Supt. Jovy
Gutierrez, and members of the Association of Barangay Chairman (ABC) led by
its chair Rudy Sese.

The city, according to Binay, though not a drug-free one, has been
classified by Cabigon as having the lowest drug-related crime rates in the
Southern metropolis.

Cabigon supported Binay's claim by saying that SPD's rehabilitation center
in Bicutan have listed so far only two drug dependents undergoing rehab
this year.

"With the MOA taking effect immediately, it is expected that the ongoing
campaign of both the city government and local police is now more than
reliable and efficient in fighting drug abuse," the lady mayor said.