ILOILO City – Since January of this year, 111 barangays in Western Visayas have been cleared of illegal drugs, according to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
The Barangay Drug Clearing Program – Regional Oversight Committee (BDCP-ROC) made a series of validations before making the declarations, said PDEA deputy regional director Thesa Albano.
The BDCP-ROC is made up of PDEA, Police Regional Office 6, Department of Interior and Local Government, and Department of Health.
Albano said 340 more barangays may be declared cleared of illegal drugs after validations.
Western Visayas is made up of 4,051 barangays spread in the provinces of Iloilo, Antique, Aklan, Capiz, Guimaras, and Negros Occidental.
The town of Hamtic in Antique had the most number of villages (22) declared as cleared of drugs since January.
The other cleared barangays were in the following towns:
* Janiuay, Iloilo – 11
* Libacao, Aklan – 15
* Maasin, Iloilo – 8
* Malinao, Aklan – 9
* Mina, Iloilo – 15
* Pulupandan, Negros Occidental – 15
* Tubungan, Iloilo – 16
Albano said the validations were rigid.
“We could not easily declare a certain village free from illegal drugs,” she stressed.
The following criteria must be met:
* non-availability of illegal drugs
* absence of drug transshipment activity
* absence of clandestine drug laboratories
* absence of clandestine drug warehouses
* no marijuana cultivation
* no drug dens and drug users/pushers
* no drug protectors
* active participation of barangay officials and Sangguniang Kabataan in the anti-drug campaign
Achieving a drug-cleared status, however, is not enough, said Albano. The barangays must maintain such status.
“Should the barangay officials fail, they may be charged administratively,” said Albano.
BDCP-ROC is constantly monitoring the barangays./PN
