MORE NEWS, BENGUET

3 towns given P4.5M to stop marijuana growing
By Dexter A See

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The Dangerous Drugs Board has given P4.5 million to three towns in this vegetable-producing province to make farmers in the three municipalities shy away from marijuana growing.

The amounts given to the towns were intended to fund legitimate livelihood projects that can provide income for the farmers.

The three towns received each P1.5 million from the DDB officials. These towns are Bakun, Kapangan, and Kibungan.

The funds are to be used to improve the sericulture industry, considered an alternative livelihood for the farmers who had earlier engaged in marijuana growing.

The funds given to Bakun and Kibungan serve as an initial capital for their sericulture projects, while the money given to Kapangan is for the continuing enhancement of the same project.

Kapangan has earned international recognition for the high-quality fiber it has been producing.

Earlier, the DDB gave R1 million to Kapangan as seed money for the town’s alternative livelihood program which is expected to encourage farmers to shift from the illegal cultivation of marijuana.

The alternative income source being introduced to the farmers is the production of yacon and cultflowers.

When the DDB saw that the sericulture industry in Kapangan has flourished, it again gave P2 million to the municipal government to strengthen the livelihood program.

The Cordillera office of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency has already declared Kapangan as marijuana-free after it conducted a series of validation activities.

Bakun, Kapangan, and Kibungan are noted marijuana-producing areas in Benguet.

In a related development, the DDB and the Cordillera PDEA are coordinating with the municipal government of Tinglayan, Kalinga, one of the marijuana-producing areas in the region, in the selection of a viable livelihood in the locality which would replace marijuana cultivation.

Most marijuana cultivators who have shifted to alternative sources of livelihood said the production of the marijuana is better because it does not entail extra time, effort, and money compared to the production of cultflowers, yacon, and mulberry.

Moreover, the price of marijuana is much higher compared to the alternative crops being promoted by DDB and PDEA.

They realized, however, that the marijuana cultivation is risky because it is against the law.



Marijuana plantation raided in Benguet, La Union borders

KIBUNGAN, Benguet – Lawmen burned over P28 million worth of marijuana at plantations along the Benguet-La Union upland borders last week.
Some 18,500 fully grown marijuana plants pegged by the Dangerous Drugs Board to reach P3,700,000 and 6,350 marijuana seedlings valued at P254,000 were uprooted from 4,200 square meters and 1,260-square meter plantations here in sitios Tebteb and Balbalnag.

Some 25 kilos of dried marijuana leaves pegged at P625,000 were also found in the area.

A 31,000-square meter plantation in nearby Santol town in La Union where an estimated 114,000 fully grown marijuana plants valued at P22,800,000 were also uprooted as lawmen hauled some 30 kilos of dried marijuana leaves from the same site.

No cultivator was collared, said PDEA-Cordillera director Chief Insp. Edgar Apalla.
The eradication we carried out jointly with PDEA-Region 1, Police Regional Mobile Group – 1, La Union Police Provincial Mobile Group, 50th Infantry Battalion of the 503rd Brigade of the Philippine Army, La Union Provincial Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Group, Military Intelligence Group – 1 and Tactical Operations Group – 1 of the 1st Air Division of the Philippine Air Force.

An alleged pusher who hails from Kibungan town also in Benguet was also held with P425,000 worth of marijuana in front of the Buyagan Elementary School in Eastern Buyagan , La Trinidad town, Benguet on Nov. 8.

This, 10 days after the DDB handed over P1.5 million to the municipal government of Kibungan to start sericulture as alternative livelihood to marijuana cultivation in the area.

Randy Camada, 21, single, a high school graduate who hails from Palina, also in Kibungan was nabbed by anti-narcotics agents after he tried to sell 17 bricks or 17 kilos of marijuana dried leaves to a PDEA agent who acted as “buyer.”

Cases for illegal drug trafficking were filed against Camada before the Benguet Prosecutors Office.