ILOILO City – This city and Bacolod City have the least number of barangays cleared of illegal drugs, according to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 6 (PDEA-6).
The agency’s record as of July showed 93 barangays have been cleared in Iloilo City – or 51.66 percent of its 180 villages.
On the other hand, Bacolod City only has 13 drug-cleared barangays. This is only 21.31 percent of its 61 villages.
“Indi kita ka kuha sang mataas nga number of drug-cleared barangays kay wala mapadayon ang mga processes that include enrolling drug personalities to government intervention program and rehabilitation in the Balay Silangan,” said PDEA-6 spokesperson Shey Tanaleon.
To remedy the situation, Tanaleon said PDEA is conducting house-to-house “health visitation” together with Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Councils to know the status of identified drug personalities and the drug situation in the barangays.
As for the provinces, those with a high percentage of drug-cleared barangays were the following:
* Antique – 99.66 percent
* Aklan – 99.08 percent
* Iloilo – 98.25 percent
* Guimaras – 96.93 percent
* Capiz – 89.64 percent
* Negros Occidental – 57.73 percent
Tanaleon said the total numbers of drug-cleared barangays across the region reached 3,576 – this is 88.30 percent of Western Visayas’ total 4,051 villages.
But the revalidation is constant.
“Kay may ara barangay nga may bag-o nga mga drug personalities. Dapat barangays have to maintain nga wala sang drug personalities,” said Tanaleon./PN