“It is big because it is unfortunate that, with due respect, there are men in uniform, local officials that are involved in illegal drugs and I am praying none of us here is involved in illegal drugs because if are, we are committing two sins, first, we will be violating laws and second, we are violating our oath of office,” he said.
The second way according to USec. Iringan is, there is a need to cut the elephant into small pieces so it could be swallowed.
“We need specific intervention for specific sectors, it cannot be a one-time big time approach. It will be specific, meaning we have to go down to the lowest unit of society, which is the individual, we have to police ourselves, our households, our communities and our local government also. We need to involve all the offices of our government from the national to provincial city and municipality level, the church, the youth, the women, the senior citizen. Everybody can contribute to the fight against illegal drugs,” the USEC said.
The third way to is to invite and connect with people from the different sectors and involve the parents being the first ones who can directly educate the children about drugs.
“Teaching the young ones the values and the virtues that we need to hold in our hearts- virtues of love, caring, respect for others, nationalism and love of our country are simple things but can make a lot of difference in ensuring that the children are disciplined individuals. The older siblings must serve as role models to their younger brothers and sisters. We, the local officials need to be the role models in our communities,” USec. Iringan said.
He said the church and the universities are strategic partners which the government can link with in order to reach out to the students, students leaders and youth leaders and the Sangguniang Kabataan as provided under the local government of 1991.