LINGAYEN, Pangasinan—Gov. Amado Espino Jr. intensified the campaign against illegal drugs as he asked all local government units (LGUs) in the province to set aside from 1.5 percent to 0.5 percent of their annual budgets to fund the campaign against illegal drugs, which is actually provided for in the Dangerous Drugs Act, which he coauthored while still in Congress.
Espino said that, during the joint meeting of the Provincial Peace and Order and Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Council, which he both heads on Wednesday, he will ask the provincial board to compel all LGUs to allot funds from their annual budgets for the fight against illegal drugs.
The governor noted that municipal and city drug abuse councils cannot move and helpless in fighting illegal drugs for lack of funds, although they have money under their command to use for this purpose under the law.
To achieve this purpose, he asked Vice Gov. Jose Ferdinand Calimlim, presiding officer of the provincial board, not to pass annual budgets submitted by municipalities and component cities for review if these do not contain funding for the campaign against drug abuse.
The governor said he has set aside 1.5 percent of the province’s more than P2-billion annual budget in fighting drug abuse, and expected the component cities to also set aside 1.5 percent in their annual budgets.
Up to this time, only four or five towns have, so far, submitted their annual budgets to the provincial board for mandatory review.
“For big towns, we expect them to set aside 1 percent and for the small towns, just 0.5 percent,” Espino said, adding that the province will help small towns with meager annual budgets.
Stressing that he is serious in eradicating the drug problem in Pangasinan up to the end of his term, Espina explained that the budgets for anti-drugs set aside by local governments will go to their respective Municipal or City Drug Abuse Councils headed by mayors which are but policy-making bodies but not implementing agencies.