Mothers in the island barangay of Cuaming in Inabanga earn side income by selling shabu.

This disclosure shocked participants of a multi-sector gathering for the Campaign Against Illegal Drugs (CAID) yesterday at JJ’s Seafood Village in Tagbilaran City.

Dr. Yul Lopez, provincial executive assistant on health, disclosed this to describe the width of the drug menace in island barangays.

Lopez attributed the proximity of Cuaming to Cordova and Pasil in Cebu where transshipment of shabu has been active.

This information had also been confirmed by police intelligence reports.

Intelligence reports had been consistent on the shipment of shabu from Pasil through motorized fishing vessels to some island barangays in Bohol.

Drug rings consider the distance of the island barangays from the mainland as an advantage to keep authorities oblivious to the illegal activities in remote areas.

In fact, drugs allegedly from the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa used to be delivered to the islands by inmates.

There had been reports in the past that some NBP inmates, from time to time, managed to sneak out of the prison facility to deliver drugs to the islands in the past.

Usually the rounds of delivery of the supply of drugs were undertaken at late night or dawn and the inmates who served as couriers, at all times, carried firearms.

According to reports, bursts of gunfire would usually serve as notice to small fishermen venturing out to sea in between islands that they had to give way to other motorized fishing boats boarded by the couriers from NBP.

This has been the challenge of the police, since drug rings employed creative strategies to evade authorities.

Instead of relying solely on police operations in the war against drugs, the provincial government continues with the multipronged attack against the drug menace.

Highlighting the close-knit Boholano community, CAID is directed towards raising the awareness of family members of drug personalities on their role in cutting the demand of illegal drugs.

While the police intensify the crackdown on the supply, the community complement in the crackdown on the demand side of the drug menace.

The provincial government and the civil society partnership yesterday conducted the general assembly to organize and promote nation-building “through good governance by uniting all agencies and stakeholders involved in the implementation of CAID”.

The initiative is intended to “emphasize the role of individuals in the community to sustain the program alongside the moral recovery program all over the province”.

Values formation is also considered a key in cutting the demand side of the drug trade.

Information, education campaign on the ill-effects of drug abuse continues up to the purok level to ensure people, especially the youth, will avoid getting hooked in drugs.

The provincial government-civil society partnership also intends to promote appreciation of self-worth, self-confidence and sense of direction among youth to be able to resist the temptation.

The provincial government has also established the first community-based Center for Drug Education and Counseling in Bohol late last year.

The CDEC is housed at the Oakbrook Building near the St. Joseph Cathedral across the old Capitol Building.