By Jun Enriquez
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| Clarin Mayor David Navarro (Front row 4th from left with eye glass) & Misamis Occidental Board Member Dan Navarro (Front row 3rd from right), joined with rescue 911 trainees. |
Clarin, Misamis Occidental – Clarin municipality
continuously conducted massive campaign against illegal drugs by initiating a
drug rehabilitation program called SALTU, "Save the none users and Love
The Users" in response to “Tokhang” (toktok-hangyo), it means knock and
appeal to stop the proliferation of illegal drugs. SALTU was Conceptualized in
the later part of 2014 by the then Clarin Municipal Councilor Dan Navarro now a
Board member in this province. The SALTU project was implemented in 2015
Combating the drug menace due to limited funds of individual drug victim for
rehabilitation. The poor victims usually are not accessible on rehabilitation
center because rehabilitation cost in Ozamiz City is 10,000 pesos per month for
the poor victim and 30,000 pesos per month for the personalities who can afford
economically. Rehabilitation cost In Oroquieta city is 4,000 pesos but the
center is already overcrowded.
In a media briefing on July 20, 2016, Ms. Lynne De
Guzman-Pina, Program Manager
of the Holistic Humanitarian Initiatives and Development, Inc. that implement the SALTU program and working as partner of the Local government of Clarin said that in the
rehabilitation center there is no integration of body, mind and soul of the
person. SALTU program is awareness raising, planning top down and bottom up,
identification of resources, organization and selection, training, network,
documentation, monitoring and evaluation, preliminary research to collect data
on doing awareness project.
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| Ms. Pina (center) & Mike Navarro (right) conducts interview with Kapitan Dula. |
Ms. Pina said SALTU program aims a drug free community,
support and empowered community members in preventing and eliminating the use
of dangerous drugs. The LGU of Clarin created a SALTU committee to implement
the program. There is also an evaluation of the program with evaluators are
coming from the Misamis University. SALTU program are divided into three
categories, the Universal, selective and indicative programs. There was also
created a composition of teams and committees based at barangay level with
community volunteers coming from the “tokhang” personalities. Ms. Pina said
there is a detox water that will remove the chemicals from the body that will
help on the process of rehabilitation that will help the fast recovery and
neutralize the body of the illegal drug dependents from its use. One gallon of
detox water will cost at least 100 pesos but it is given free produced by BM
Dan Navarro as part of the SALTU project.
The SALTU committee is compose of Barangay chairman,
Barangay Kagawad chairman on health, Barangay Kagawad chairman on Peace and
order council, Chairman of the Barangay Anti-drug council, Department of
Education, religious sector, other organizations and interested personalities.
There is also a SALTU CARE program composed of the Church, Agencies,
Rehabilitation centers and everyone who wanted to contribute their expertise
voluntarily. Activities considered the care of the drug victims are Spiritual,
Social, Economic, Psychological, environmental and physical involving sports.
The provincial government of Misamis Occidental conducted drawing contest on
the impact of illegal drugs whose contestants were coming from the victims of
illegal drugs and Clarin contestant was the first prize winner.
Barangay Chairperson Salvacion Dula of Cinangay Sur
called Kapitan Dula said that they implemented the SALTU program in their
Barangay. She recounted her experienced the people under the influence of
illegal drugs were very violent as if they were not afraid of any laws. They
broke streetlights and bottles on the road during the night. Vehicles and
motorcycles roamed around until morning. She said it’s a headache of having
those kind of people in their Barangay. There are 82 drug dependents in
Cinangay Sur surrendered to authorities and about 3-5 personalities recommended
for rehabilitation. Kapitan Dula observed under the Duterte administration
implemented Tokhang and identified people dependent on illegal drugs have
surrendered voluntarily to the Barangay hall and were endorse to the police and
the Municipal Mayor and they committed to change their behavior for good.
Kapitan Dula said at present Barangay Cinangay Sur is already a peaceful
community. The families of the “tokhang” personalities are now happy because
instead their income will be used to buy illegal drug called “shabu”, now they
can buy food and other needs in the family. Domestic violence due to illegal
drugs also reduced. She said she observed anew at 8:00 O’clock in the evening
major streets in Barangay Cinangay Sur are already peaceful. No more people
violently roaming around during the night time.
Kapitan Dula said the Barangay council of Cinangay Sur assisted the
beneficiaries of implementing the SALTU project with the help of the Clarin
LGU, Department of Education, Department of Social Welfare and Development
(DSWD), Department of Agriculture (DA) in the implementation of a gardening project
located in the vacant lot of the public school in the Barangay. Every Sunday
there is spiritual lectures conducted by the religious leader-volunteers and at
the same time the Barangay council and police will be able to monitor the
presence of the “Tokhang” personalities.
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| Ms. Pina (left) & Mike Navarro (right) during an interview with Board member Dan Navarro. |
Misamis Occidental Provincial Board Member (BM) Dan
Navarro, the main author of the SALTU program said he conceptualized the
emergence of SALTU based on his previous experiences as a community organizer
and the implemented community based activity projects. He said there should be
love and prayerfulness together with the children as a basic formula. The youth
are the most affected in the proliferation of illegal drugs that’s why there is
the importance to “save the non-users and love the users” BM Navarro said.
“Killing was not in the heart of the people in Clarin because we believed that
there is change through self-reflection and self-reform with the help of the
non-government organization (NGO)” BM Navarro emphasized.
The Tokhang project is just to identify the surrenderees
of drug pushers and users. The national office of the Department of Interior
and Local Government (DILG) will sustain the Tokhang operation. BM Navarro said
SALTU is a sustainable program that will help sustain “Tokhang” campaign with
the cooperation of the religious groups, Barangay council, Department of
Education, among others. The SALTU project has focused in one model Barangay
and produced a good result because all illegal drug surrenderees behaved. There
are 626 illegal drug personalities actually engaged in SALTU program while
others undergo self-recovery.
BM Navarro said there is 2.7 Million-peso project for the
construction of multi-purpose building primarily for the rehabilitation and
training center which funds coming from a certain Foundation, the land for the
building is a counterpart of the local government. The construction will
probably start this year. There is a plan to implement the SALTU program in a
province-wide of Misamis Occidental. Any program will not run without funds,
the role of the provincial government is very important to implement the SALTU
program in the province. The SALTU project has gained volunteers support at
Barangay down to Purok level with those persons affected by the illegal drugs,
The Tokhang personalities were challenge to volunteer with positive response to
render voluntary service without any remuneration.
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| Participants of the rescue 911 training |
In line with the national campaign against illegal drugs,
the Provincial government of Misamis Occidental conducted a training seminar on
rescue 911 emergency response. BM Dan Navarro said "as committee chairman
on Disaster Preparedness and management, and committee on Dangerous drugs, I
believe in quick response to address the crime, drugs and disasters in the
province particularly in the second district of Misamis Occidental". He
also said that "to this cause we will come up with the best program/
system for this drug menace and crimes. The system that can cater the second
district-wide composed of 5 municipalities and 2 cities to be dispatched on the
training". The Board Member added that they plan to establish 911 central
command to operate 24/7 in order to respond quickly on every emergency
situation in the province. BM Navarro said "this is now part of real
change that I believe the 911 in Malacañang is looking forward for the strict
implementation of the progrsm nationwide".
Clarin Municipal Mayor David Navarro said that Project
Tokhang was fully implemented in Clarin town under his watch. He said that
there are at least 1,500 “Tokhang” personalities in Clarin and now on the
process of rehabilitation under the SALTU program. Mayor Navarro is the Interim
president of PDP Laban in Misamis Occidental but he was in the controversial
list of President Duterte on drug related case as David Navarro of Pagadian
City. Mayor Navarro said that he lived in Pagadian City in 1994 and transferred
his residency in Clarin in 1996 and later on became a politician. He is waiting
to receive clearance from DILG Secretary Sueno to clear his name in the drug
list. He said Mayor David Navarro of Clarin is not the same person of David
Navarro of Pagadian City as of the present time.
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| Mayor David Navarro (right front row) & PINSP Bryan Daculos with the illegal gambling operators at the background. |
Mayor Navarro said that the next project is to step up
the campaign against illegal gambling in Clarin. The Philippine National Police
(PNP) Chief, Director Gen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa has a new directive to stop
illegal gambling. Mayor Navarro said that Illegal karrera and illegal swertres
games must be stopped. The people can have a legal betting at the lotto
outlets. Police Inspector Bryan Daculos, local police chief said they already
started the implementation of apprehending illegal gambling on the night of
September 19.
Illegal gambling was considered to be the livelihood of
the concerned people. Mayor Navarro said he will give alternative livelihood
support and for the meantime he gave one sack of rice to each individual
engaged in illegal gambling while looking for a job or alternative livelihood.
He is calling the people in his town to unite and stop the illegal gambling
activities in Clarin for the good of the community. He said the police is
always ready to apprehend any violators and will be dealt with accordingly.
Mayor Navarro said his actions on “Tokhang” and the stop of illegal gambling in
Clarin are manifestations of support to the program of President Duterte. With
reports from Mike Navarro, photo by Jun Enriquez.
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