TEXT MESSAGES HELP COPS IDENTIFY, CAPTURE PUSHERS

THE government's all-out war against illegal drugs is gaining ground in
Baguio following the launching of the text hotline allowing citizens to
report suspected drug pushers and users in the city.

Since the launching of the text 70010, at least 16 suspected pushers and
users, including a City Hall employee, were already reported to the City's
Anti-Drug Abuse Council (Cadac).

Cadac, in cooperation with Smart telecommunications company, launched text
70010 and asked residents to support and help in the massive anti-drug
campaign by texting relevant information against drug personalities.

A Cadac officer told Sun.Star that the names of the suspected pushers and
users reported through text were referred to the Drug Enforcement Unit of
the Baguio City Police Office and regional Philippine Drug Enforcement
Agency (PDEA-CAR).

He added that one suspected pusher was already arrested even as the City
Hall employee, whose name was texted to 70010, tested negative of illegal
drugs.

Asked about the safety and confidentiality of the sources, the CADAC
officer said the number and name of the text sender does not appear in the
CADAC cellphone hotline.

Last month, Mayor Bernardo Vergara issued an administrative order giving
city residents the authority to arrest illegal drug users and pushers in
line with the city's intensified campaign against illegal drugs.

The mayor said citizens' arrest is authorized under section 5 of the
Revised Rules of Court and the Constitution.

Section 5 of the Revised Rules of Court states that "a peace officer or a
private person may, without a warrant, arrest a person: a. When, in his
presence, the person to be arrested has committed, is actually committing,
or is attempting to commit an offense; b. When an offense has in fact just
been committed, and he has personal knowledge of facts indicating that the
persons to be arrested has committed it; c. When the person to be arrested
is a prisoner who has escaped from a penal establishment or place where he
is serving final judgement or temporarily confined while his case is
pending, or has escaped while being transferred from one confinement to
another."

In the first two cases cited, the person arrested "shall be forthwith
delivered to the nearest police station or jail and he shall be proceeded
against in accordance with Rule 112 section.

Vergara's order came following reports from the Police Regional Office in
the Cordilleras (PRO-CAR) that Baguio is fast becoming a haven for
small-time drug pushers coming from the lowlands.

It was also earlier reported that at least 25 barangays in the city, if not
more, have been considered as 'drug-affected areas'.

Vergara also already deputized barangay officials in the city as partners
in the city's campaign for crime prevention.

The mass oath-taking took place during the Mayor's Hour with the barangay
officials at City Hall.

Vergara said barangay officials can now actively join the anti-crime drive
by invoking their authority to effect a citizen's arrest. The mayor also
recently deputized student leaders in the various schools and universities
along this line.

He said this is in line with Administrative Order 449 "enjoining and
mobilizing all sectors of the community to voluntarily help in the
apprehension and prosecution of drug offenders, street criminals and other
violators of laws."

"I call upon all sectors of the community to serve as an influential force
in the government's war against drugs and other crimes by undertaking
voluntary efforts in the furtherance of their civic participation including
the use of citizens' arrest as provided for under existing laws," the mayor
noted in his order.

The move is an offshoot of the mayor's meeting with student leaders where
the students aired concerns on the rise of cases of pickpockets, cellular
phone snatching and hold-up victimizing students.

"I've committed to deputize the students, barangay officials, civic and
non-government organizations and other sectors for citizens' arrest to help
solve this problem," Vergara stressed.