SAN JOSE, Antique – The province of Antique look forward to achieve “drug-cleared” status before the 2019 ends.
Antique Provincial Police Office deputy director for operations Lieutenant Colonel Norby Escobar said in an interview on Thursday said this goal is in support of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s intensified anti-illegal drugs campaign.
“A total of 557 or 90 percent of villages here are now drug-cleared,” Escobar said.
The province of Antique has a total 590 barangays comprising 18 municipalities.
“There are 292 drug-affected barangays and 265 unaffected-barangays that had been cleared,” he added.
APPO’s report from January to June this year showed 21 succesful antidrug operations, where 23 persons was nabbed and their cases are now filed in the courts.
“I surmise we could clear all the remaining barangays before the end of December this year,” he said.
Escobar appealed for support from new local chief executives (LCEs) so the goal for the province to become drug-cleared could be attained.
“I am urging the new local chief executives to do their roles in making Antique drug-free and a safe place to live in,” he said.
He added that the President himself ordered LCEs to do their respective roles in addressing the illegal drug problem in the country. (With a report from PNA/PN)
