ILOILO City – Twelve barangays in Western Visayas are seeking to be declared as cleared of illegal drugs in today’s (Aug. 27) Regional Oversight Committee on Dangerous Drugs deliberation at the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6).
Two of these barangays are from Iloilo City (Santo Domingo, Arevalo and Jalandoni-Bagumbayan, City Proper) and 10 from the provinces of Iloilo, Capiz and Guimaras.
“We hope that the applicants will be able to complete the requirements,” said Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Region 6 spokesperson Shey Tanaleon.
Seventy other already-cleared barangays applied for “retention”, she added. These are from the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Iloilo, and Guimaras.
“For sustainability, need nila mag-apply for retention or else pwede naton ma-revoke ang ila certification,” Tanaleon explained.
“Indi dapat ang mga barangay officials magkampante nga if may certification na sila nga drug= cleared barangay indi na nila pag e-sustain,” she said.
Meanwhile, according to PDEA-6 director Alex Tablate, out of the 4,051 barangays in Western Visayas, 3,393 or 83.75 percent were already cleared of illegal drugs.
PDEA is hoping to clear the remaining 16 percent this year.
“Medyo mabagal ang ating drug clearing dahil sa coronavirus (pandemic). Hindi tayo maka-conduct ng validation kasi ang mag-present hindi makapunta so we have to do it through virtual lang,” he said.
On the other hand, Tablate said they continue to monitor the whereabouts of the region’s high-value targets (HVT) in coordination with the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6).
“Expect more drug operations. This time we have to focus on the HVTs as instructed by the national office,” Tablate said, adding he had reviewed the latest list of HVTs in Region 6.
Included in the priority list is the region’s No.1 suspected drug personality, Ernesto Bolivar. However, based on the latest report from the PRO-6’s Regional Intelligence Division, Bolivar already fled the region.
Police intelligence reports also showed Bolivar’s group already dismantled following the arrest of down lines./PN
