Correspondence Reports
The fight against illegal drugs in Eastern Visayas

Basahin ang artikulong ito sa Pilipino

As far as public clamor and the statements of radio commentators are concerned, they say only one thing: They do not have any hope that the AFP or the PNP will be able to resolve the drug problem because the latter are themselves implicated in it and are in fact, behind the drug syndicates. Only the NPA can resolve it.

In truth, in any part of the region where the people�s Red political power prevails, the drug problem has either been already annihilated or has not had a chance to gain momentum. Should there be some cases discovered, they are quickly dealt with through decisive measures taken by the revolutionary mass organizations and if necessary, by the people�s army.

According to Ka Peping, one of the first steps taken with the entry of the revolutionary movement into any area is to ascertain who the bad elements are in the community. They include, among others, those involved in antisocial or criminal activities such as robbery, carabao rustling, prostitution and illegal drug pushing.

The principal means of dealing with ordinary people involved in these activities is political: we patiently explain the revolution�s good objectives and the importance of uniting the people against their true enemies. We also explain to them that involvement in criminal and antisocial activities undermines revolutionary unity and is destructive to the people�s welfare. In the case of illegal drugs, we explain their harmful effects on health.

These initial measures alone, said Ka Peping, yield dramatic results. �As soon as drug pushers hear about the NPA�s presence in a barrio, there is an automatic and significant reduction in their number and activities.�

As political work further develops in a barrio, the mass organizations themselves play an expanding role in ensuring that their place stays free of illegal drugs.

Whenever they hear about persons pushing drugs, says Ka Peping, the mass organizations confront them and explain matters to them so they�d stop. �Usually,� he says, �we are able to convince them to stop.� If they have deeper problems, we help in resolving them. The officials of the organization continue to investigate and monitor whether or not the concerned individuals have indeed reformed.

But if they refuse to stop despite repeated dialogues, the problem is referred to the NPA. And more often than not, the warning given to them by the NPA is what makes them stop pushing drugs.

Ordinary people using drugs are patiently and tirelessly convinced, encouraged and helped. Because the youth are the most vulnerable to drugs, the key to ensuring that they are not victimized by drugs is to arouse, organize and mobilize them for the revolution. �In consolidated barrios or those undergoing consolidation,� said Ka Peping, �almost all of the youth organization�s time is directed at political and ideological studies, propagating patriotic and progressive culture, organizing and production work. They neither have the time nor the interest to engage in rotten and decadent activities.�

As the revolution grows deeper roots in an area, the organized youth tend towards working full-time for the revolution. �In the countryside,� says Ka Peping, �there has been a gradual reversal of the previously strong inclination of Samare�o youth to abandon their barrios to work in Manila. They are now more inclined to join or work �full-time� in the people�s army.�

The mass organizations in the barrios propagate �Kampanyang Salinlahi� (New generation campaign) which calls for each family to contribute at least a son or a daughter to the revolution so that the movement will be infused with new blood and aging comrades or those slain in struggle can have replacements. �It is the parents themselves who encourage their children to work full-time in the people�s army,� explains Ka Peping. �The revolution has become part of the daily life of the barrio and the dream of every youth is to join the people�s army and serve the revolution. How could the youth even think of using drugs under these conditions?�

The situation in the town centers and other areas not yet reached by the movement, or even in barrios long left behind by the NPA, however, is still quite different. In one barrio in Northern Samar that the NPA had to leave behind and where the AFP set up a detachment in the early 1990s, the military itself pushed drugs to corrupt the people and destroy the revolutionary mass base. For four years, the military inveigled identified members of the youth and women�s organizations into using shabu. This only stopped when the people successfully expelled the detachment from the barrio.

In Catarman, capital of Northern Samar, it is the chief himself of the PNP�s anti-drugs operations unit, SP03 Vic Delfin, who sells shabu even to the police. �He is also a rabid counterrevolutionary and leader of a holdup syndicate based in Manila,� says Ka Peping.

In San Juan, San Isidro, Northern Samar, the masses reported that the commander of the AFP patrol base himself ordered shabu from another barrio when his unit�s supply ran out.

In Allen, Northern Samar, the shabu supplier is PNP Maj. Andy Suan, presently assigned in Manila. He is known to be close to Panfilo Lacson.

In Guian, Eastern Samar, the mayor himself serves as the drug lord. Using his earnings from drugs, this mayor plans to run as a candidate for congress or for the governorship in 2004.

In February 2002, the NPA Mt. Amandewin Command in Leyte punished Inaki Guljuran, one of the biggest drug lords in Ormoc City and nearby towns, in response to the people�s firm demand.

�We know each and every one of the principal drug pushers in the region,� says Ka Peping, �and we are warning them to put a stop to their criminal activities.�

21 July 2003
English Edition

	Editorial: Oppose and thwart the repression of the legal democratic movement
	Violence and fraud in the Isabela elections
	41st IB attempts murder of peasant leaders in Cagayan
	Arroyo-Cojuangco conflict intensifies
	Victorious NPA offensives
	Correspondence Reports Establishing a MAKIBAKA chapter in a barrio in Bicol
	Correspondence Reports The fight against illegal drugs in Eastern Visayas
	Correspondence Reports The AFP and PNP are the country�s biggest drug syndicates
	Correspondence Reports 3 RHB elements tried by people�s court
	Bishop of the poor
	AFP junior officers and rank-and-file restive
	Developments overseas The worsening US economy
	News