TRAINING VS ILLEGAL DRUGS STARTS TODAY

About 60 participants from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP),
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and Philippine National
Police (PNP) in Mindanao are taking part in the g exercise in
counter-narcoterrorism that starts today and ends on September 24.

"This is a joint-training exercise with a common goal to wage war on
drugs and bring peace to our community", Lt. Col. Agane Adriatico,
chief of the 5th Civil Relations Group for Southeastern Mindanao, said
in a press statement.

Adriatico said that the training is aimed at enhancing the
authorities' abilities to identify and preserve evidence, evacuate
casualties, gather intelligence and instruct others on how to combat
narcotics.

"It's about time that such training will be at hand, many lives has
been wasted due to its ill effects especially to our youth. This is
not just the fight of some law enforcers, but is the fight of everyone
not just in the communities but in the country as a whole", Adriatico
said.

He also said that the training, to be conducted by US Special Forces
experts in drug enforcement, is being supported by the city government
under the leadership of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, a known crusader
against illegal drugs, and the Association of Barangay Captains (ABC)
headed by Amil Bangsa Manding.

Adriatico said the same training is also to be conducted at the
Philippine Military Academy in Baguio City, while here the training
is conducted at the Philippine Public Safety College Regional Training
School 11 at Mintal, Tugbok district.