City gov conducts seminar to harness media influence against illegal Drugs
To harness the power of the local media to convince people to change behavior and stir the public to aggressively take part in the campaign against illegal drugs, a seminar workshop was conducted on November 22-23,2019 at Sarangani Highlands, City of Koronadal.
The “Seminar on the Influence of Mass Media Campaigns in Illegal Drugs Reduction and Eradication”, aims to empower the local media to actively support and participate in the anti-drugs campaign by employing their influence towards drug abuse prevention and control. Further, the seminar aims to capacitate the participants on campaign strategies focus on drug education to ensure proper delivery of the message. Meanwhile, the city government hopes to strengthen its collaboration with the media to encourage deeper participation of the general public on drug education, prevention and control programs through their persuading influence.
As a start, City Local Government Operations Officer Jennifer Fernandez gave some DILG updates and issuances in relation to Illegal Drugs. On the other hand, Resource Speaker Katryn Gaye Abad of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-Region 12 introduced new inputs on how to make campaign efforts responsive to local conditions and how continuous education should encourage action on the part of other people who influence the lives of youth. Abad emphasized in her talk the importance of public information dissemination in the ‘demand reduction strategy’ in the war against drugs in general.
On the other hand, Koronadal PNP Chief Lt Col Joefel Siason discussed about the illegal drug trade in the Philippines, the ill-effects of illicit drugs, and the basics of Drug Operation and PNP protocols for media. After every speaker, an open forum and knowledge sharing gave the participants an avenue to express their views and answer their inquiries.
At least 26 individuals composed of local media, CIO Staff, DILG Staff and Barangay Councilors League Officers attended the seminar. The said undertaking is one of the activities spearheaded by the City Information Office, City Anti-Drug Abuse Council ( CADAC) and City DILG in line with the celebration of the Drug Abuse Prevention and Control (DAPC) Week.