BY MA. THERESA LADIAO
ILOILO City – Western Visayas has reached an impressive milestone with 92.99% of its barangays now declared drug-cleared.
Data from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Region 6 (PDEA-6) showed that the Oversight Committee approved the drug-cleared status of 140 barangays across the region.
Of the number, 130 barangays maintained their previously cleared status, while 10 new barangays were recently declared drug-cleared.
The newly cleared barangays from illegal drugs include three in Oton and one each in San Enrique and Ajuy towns in Iloilo Province; one in Iloilo City; and one each in Murcia, Cadiz City, Isabela, and Pontevedra in Negros Occidental.
Currently, only 284 out of 4,051 barangays in the entire region have yet to be cleared by PDEA from illegal drug activities.
This achievement was highlighted during the 52nd Regional Oversight Committee Deliberation on the Barangay Drug Clearing Program (ROC-BDC), led by PDEA-6 in collaboration with the Philippine National Police, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the Department of Health Region 6./PN
