NEWSFLASH

MARIKINA QUARANTINES “DRUG-RISK” STREETS

Marikina City, Jan. 25, 2000 - Marikina City has declared two streets in Barangay Concepcion I as "drug-risk areas" which non-residents cannot enter without prior permission from and registration with the barangay chairman.

Mayor Bayani Fernando yesterday explained that visitors to these areas are now required to present their identification cards and to state to the barangay chairman the purpose of their visit before they can enter.

"The human rights (of the innocent) will be violated but I'm appealing to them for a little sacrifice because I want the area cleaned up of drugs before it is too late," said Fernando.

There are at least 300 families residing on Singkamas and Mais streets in Sitio Tumana, Barangay Concepcion I. Not all of them, the mayor acknowledged, are drug users or pushers.

At least six other areas in Marikina City have been listed by the city police chief Superintendent Leo Kison as "drug-risk." Fernando refused to name these areas pending the outcome of the campaign on Singkamas and Mais Streets.

Fernando admitted that City Ordinance No. 245, passed in 1997, was patterned after then Manila Mayor Lim's spray-painting drive with only a slight variation "for easy implementation."

The city government mobilized some 140 "bantay-bayan" to guard the entrances leading to the two streets.

Before a visitor can gain entry, he must ask permission from barangay officials so his name can be listed in the record book and his movements can be closely monitored. This process, according to the mayor, would deny drug pushers their market for illegal drugs.

The ordinance was first implemented in 1997. But with Lim's renewed spray-painting campaign, Fernando decided to revive the project to complement the interior secretary's war against drugs.

The spray-painting campaign has thus far been conducted only in Manila, which has a city ordinance allowing the spray-painting “gimmick.”

Lim has encouraged local officials in other areas to pass a similar ordinance so that the campaign can also be implemented in their respective localities. A few Metro Manila executives, led by Quezon City Mayor Mel Mathay, have started working with their city and municipal councils to pass such an ordinance.