VALENZUELA Anti-Drug Abuse Council’s (VADAC) turn-over of warning posters to all public elementary and high schools in Valenzuela City, which promotes the local government’s serious stance against illegal drug proliferation highlights the city’s observance of Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking (IDADAIT) celebration dubbed as “Kalusugan ay Kayamanan, Droga ay Iwasan.”

Held every 26th day of June, IDADAIT is being observed simultaneously in all member countries of the United Nations as per resolution signed during the UN General Assembly on December 7, 1987 and by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 264. Government and non-government agencies are enjoined to post streamers and to conduct activities in line with the observance of this event.

VADAC Chairman Mayor WIN Gatchalian views the poster distribution as an effective demand reduction scheme. “The campaign effectively promotes discipline among the Valenzuelano youth, as they are being discouraged from any form of vice, most especially illegal drugs,” he shares.

Conceptualized by VADAC’s Action Officer and District 1 Councilor Antonio R. Espiritu, the signages distributed to the schools contain the message, “WARNING! This school is being watched and is under VADAC control. Prohibited drugs, alcoholic beverages, solvent substances, and cigarettes are strictly prohibited in this area.”

VADAC was formed through Executive Order No. 2004-033. The council serves as the focal point through which various organizations and individuals work together cooperatively in the planning, implementation and evaluation of programs on drug abuse prevention. It is also tasked to provide for an effective mechanism for the coordination of existing services and programs, and those which might be developed in the immediate future.

Its aim to quench the roots of drug abuse entails the continuous implementation of their “Five Key Tasks,” which involve public information campaigns, educational activities, alternative strategies, timely intervention and well-adhered social policies.

Mr. Paul John Bancosta, Vice President for Operations of Dangerous Drugs Board – Inter Agency Council, regarded VADAC as “small but terrible,” for even if Valenzuela is one of the smallest cities, its projects were evidently intensified.