The "Buhay Ingatan, Droga'y Ayawan" (BIDA) Program of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) won the International Government Media Awards for the National Social Welfare Initiative of the Year category in Singapore.
According to a news statement issued by the DILG on Monday, DILG Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. virtually accepted the honor during the rituals held at the Conrad Centennial Singapore on July 24.
The BIDA program, established under DILG Memorandum Circular 2023-025, is a comprehensive method to combat the spread of illegal and harmful drugs that attempts to reduce drug demand and supply through empowering communities.
It is part of the Philippine Anti-Illegal Drugs Strategy's (PADS) preventive and promotion initiatives.
Abalos stated that the government's anti-illegal drugs campaign has taken a new direction through the BIDA program, focusing more on drug demand and supply reduction with the assistance of BIDA activists and many sectors of society.
BIDA was launched across the country in November 2022 through various health and wellness events, and almost a million people participated in activities like fun runs, service caravans, seminars, sports fests, tree planting, clean-up drives, and barangay programs.
So far, about 31,000 stakeholders from national government agencies, local government units, the commercial sector, faith-based groups, and civil society organizations have voiced support for the program.
To date, 13 of the country's 16 regions have successfully launched their BIDA programs, with others scheduled to do so throughout the year.
As the DILG launched the BIDA Workplace campaign advocating for the implementation of drug-free workplaces in the business sector, 33 corporate firms signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) and committed their support to the BIDA program through various modalities.
The DILG collaborated with the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and Premier Volleyball League (PVL) to increase the awareness campaign against illegal drugs through the various sports leagues, emphasizing the whole-of-society approach to combating the drug epidemic.
The marketing and advocacy initiatives support the PNP's 14 drug-related operations, which resulted in the arrest of 19 drug personalities and the collection of PHP 10 billion (about USD 183 million) in illegal substances from January to April 2023 alone.
The BIDA program also emphasizes the importance of drug rehabilitation for people who use drugs (PWUDs), since more than half of barangays and nearly all municipalities and cities have already developed community-based drug rehabilitation programs (CBDRP).
Nearly a million drug surrenderers had taken part in these programs as of December 2022.
In addition to increasing LGU participation in the BIDA program, the development of LGUs' Local Anti-Drug Plan of Action (LADPA) emphasizes the need to harmonize, standardize, and provide a budget allocation for all anti-illegal drug measures at the local level.
Following the program's introduction, 343 LGUs have already enacted resolutions to include the BIDA program in their respective LADPAs.
Meanwhile, the Government Media Awards honor the most exceptional government programs and initiatives in the Asian region and are accessible to both government agencies and organizations as well as businesses that provide services or solutions to government projects.
