Thirty officers with drug prevention education responsibilities from the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) successfully completed a unique 10-day training series aimed at reducing the likelihood of initiation of substance use in schools.
The United States Embassy in the Philippines’ Office of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) collaborated with the Philippine Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) and the Colombo Plan Drug Advisory Program to launch the first of the training series from April 26 to May 7.
This will be followed by a series of 10-day sessions that will train additional law enforcement entities over the course of two years.
With funding through the INL, the Colombo Plan works with Philippine professionals and experts in drug demand reduction, prevention science, and master trainers to tailor the universally recognized curriculum on prevention, known as the Universal Prevention Curriculum.
The Colombo Plan Drug Advisory Program is a regional intergovernmental program building capacity for drug demand reduction efforts in the Asia-Pacific Region.
The curriculum includes a series intended to help ensure that nationally- and regionally-based prevention workers obtain consistent, accurate, and up-to-date science-based information and skills training.
The School-Based Prevention Intervention module provides participants with an overview of the science behind school-based prevention interventions and the application of such evidence-based approaches in school settings.
PDEA Deputy Director General Randy Pedroso said the training was “very relevant” and reflected “collaboration and teamwork in the fight against drugs” while DDB Undersecretary Benjamin Reyes lauded the INL for its strong support for drug demand reduction programs in the Philippines.
The drug reduction training series project is a component of the U.S. Embassy’s comprehensive program on drug demand reduction covering prevention, treatment, recovery, and policy development.