Ex-LAPD cop lauds Philippine war on drugs

MANILA, Philippines - A retired officer of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) lauded yesterday the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.   

Scott Gilliam, who is in Manila to train members of the Manila Police District (MPD) on an anti-drug program, said drastic measures should be taken to combat the country’s drug problem.

Gilliam also commended Mayor Joseph Estrada’s campaign against illegal drugs.

Estrada had ordered mandatory drug testing for all elected barangay officials in the city, from chairmen to councilors.

Estrada welcomed Gilliam, one of the founders of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) in California, and fellow mentor Jeffrey Smith at city hall on Friday.

Gilliam and Smith will lead 12 other US DARE instructors in training 72 members of the MPD.

Aware of the extent of the country’s drug problem, Estrada said the city government would expand the coverage of the program to save millions of youth from the drug menace.

DARE is a school-based drug prevention program, which taps police officers to educate Grades 5 and 6 students on the effects of drug abuse.

As chairman of DARE Philippines Association Inc., Estrada made representations with the Los Angeles-based DARE International to send a team of instructors to Manila to train selected MPD policemen.

Estrada launched DARE in the country in 1993 when he was vice president and head of the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission.