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CABANATUAN CITY: Thousands of Novo Ecijanos took a
stand against illegal drugs with province-wide motorcade and a
formal declaration of war at the Nueva Ecija Convention Center on
Monday.
Rev. Fr. Aldrin Domingo, chair of
the Drug Awareness Month celebration, said that the activity which
was participated in by various religious, socio-civic and
non-government organizations, educational institutions and
government agencies was aimed at giving emphasis on the need to
unite against the drug menace.
“Whoever is asked to
participate in this kind of endeavor will surely volunteer himself
or herself,” Domingo said.
This developed as the police
reported that drug operators and dealers have infiltrated some 51
villages out of 859 in the province. These villages that are being
closely monitored are in 14 municipalities.
However, Senior Supt. Napoleon
Taas reported a huge drop in the number of drug-affected barangays.
Already free of drugs, Taas said, are the towns of Aliaga, Bongabon,
Gen. Natividad, Laur, Licab, Llanera, Lupao, Nampicuan, Pantabangan,
Quezon, San Isidro, Sta. Rosa and Palayan City.
Dr. Vision de Guzman, president
of the Nueva Ecija Rehabilitation, Training and Research Center
Foundation, said one of the places where illegal dugs trade was
rampant is in Imelda District, Cabanatuan City.
She said even youngsters and
women in the area would know how to get metamphetamine hydrochloride
or shabu. In some cases, she said, housewives in the said place
would engage in sniffing shabu against hunger.
Gov. Aurelio Umali provided
facilities for the huge crowd, said de Guzman said.
The business sector, Mall owner
NE Group of Companies, even provided food to the participants, she
said. The Nueva Ecija Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NECCI)
sponsored the poster-making contest to ensure the message of war
against drugs would reach the youth.
High school students from all
over the Nueva Ecija participated in the contest which Nueva Ecija
Laban sa Droga organizers sponsored through the Department of
Education.
An effigy of an unnamed drug lord
was burned at NECCI ground in Palayan City.
--Armand M. Galang
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