U.S. Embassy and PDEA Team Up for Drug Abuse Prevention Campaign

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March 6, 2020

group in front of poster — U.S. Embassy representatives pose with PDEA’s content development team for its new anti-drug animated video.

Manila, March 6, 2020 — The U.S. Embassy in the Philippines and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) have teamed up to launch a nationwide campaign to combat drug use in the country.

During a ceremony hosted by Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte on Thursday, March 5, PDEA National Capital Region (NCR) Director Joel Plaza launched the drug abuse prevention video campaign with support from the U.S. government. The campaign will run in primary schools, colleges and universities, community centers, and PDEA’s Balay Silangan centers.

Speaking to an audience of 300, PDEA National Capital Region Director Joel Plaza said, “the video is part of the work that PDEA does with its demand reduction programs. The youth sector is the focus…as they are the most vulnerable in society.”

Since 2017, the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines has been partnering with the Philippine government in efforts to reduce demand for illicit narcotics. In particular, the United States has collaborated with PDEA and the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) in employing evidence-based drug abuse prevention programs.To help develop the video campaign, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs included PDEA and DDB officials in its global training program on media-based drug prevention strategies offered at Claremont Graduate University in California. Using evidence-based drug prevention techniques acquired during the three-month certificate program, PDEA representatives developed the media drug-prevention campaign targeting youth, particularly Generation Z.

The U.S. Embassy in the Philippines continues to work with the Philippine government, NGOs, and the private sector on drug demand reduction programs including prevention, treatment, rehabil