New DILG Undersecretary Diño to make sure all barangays will participate in drug war

Newly-appointed Interior Undersecretary Martin Diño on Tuesday said he will make sure all barangay chairmen will participate in the government's war on drugs.

"I will make sure that all the barangays all over the Philippines will be fighting against illegal drugs now or else,” Diño said during the turnover ceremony at the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for the agency's new officer-in-charge, Eduardo Año.

Diño made the statement as he said he will handle barangay affairs at the DILG.

He said he will order all barangays to submit a lit of suspected drug pushers and suspected criminals.

Those who will fail to comply may be immediately suspended, he added.

“This time may sanction 'pag hindi nakapagsubmit. Tatanungin ko ang legal kung puwede akong magsuspend agad at kung hindi naman tatanungin ko papaano mabibigyan ng sanction kung halimbawang hindi sila susunod sa DILG," he said, reiterating that the DILG has the power to suspend or remove local officials from office.

Aside from the war on drugs, Diño said the government should use barangays in intelligence gathering, census and health services and in peace and order efforts.

Diño, former chairman of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), was officially appointed as DILG undersecretary on January 8.

As early as September, the former SBMA chairman announced that Duterte had offered him a post in the DILG.

He said that despite his removal from the SBMA, Duterte has not lost confidence in him.

Diño, a former barangay chairman, is a partymate of Duterte at the PDP-Laban. He is also former chairman of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption. —ALG, GMA News