Youth leaders brainstorm on anti-illegal drug course

NAGA CITY --- Over 170 out-of-school youths, campus leaders, Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) members and city youth officials gathered for public consultation last Monday on the proposed inclusion of the anti-illegal drug abuse program in the curriculum for public and private Junior and Senior high schools. It was the fourth of a series of public meetings being undertaken by the city government of Naga in collaboration with the Department of Education (DepEd) and other government line agencies along with concerned private entities. The 5th public consultation will gather participants from the medical profession. The first assembly was held with multi-sectoral representatives from the academe, law enforcement agencies, community officials, and heads of government line agencies who were oriented on City Ordinance 2018-060 that mandates the development of a localized, values-based and holistic anti-illegal drug abuse program and its integration in the junior and high school curriculum. The measure seeks to address the growing concern over the proliferation of illegal drugs and their cumulative effects, especially on young individuals, by way of enhancing the curriculum for the secondary education in the city.

CITY Councilor Del Rosario (foreground upper photo), orients students, youth leaders and out-of-school youth on the proposed inclusion of the anti-illegal drug program in the curriculum for Junior and Senior High Schools. Photo below shows the participants in the activity.

City Councilor Lito Del Rosario said that once the project is realized, the junior and high school students will gain formal teachings about the ills of illegal drugs, which is expected to strengthen the efforts undertaken traditionally by the DepEd, the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to keep them away from the menace of society,” he said. The second public consultation was conducted with DepEd personnel who were tasked to formulate feedback forms needed to come up with learning modules. The questionnaires will be presented to different stakeholders. The third was the gathering of guidance counselors from public and private schools, colleges and universities in the city. Del Rosario, author of the ordinance, said last Monday’s assembly of the youth sector has provided the program with “highly significant outputs that can greatly contribute to the achievement of an effective and meaningful anti-illegal drug curriculum in the city.” Mayor John G. Bongat lauded the enactment of the ordinance by the Sangguniang Panlungsod, saying that the measure is very significant that other LGUs may benefit from duplicating it.