111 villages poised to get ‘drug-cleared’ status

ILOILO City – One hundred and 11 barangays in Western Visayas have been recommended for declaration as drug-cleared by the regional oversight committee on the government’s campaign against illegal drugs.

During the committee’s meeting yesterday at Casa Real de Iloilo, 111 out of 263 barangays which applied to secure a favorable declaration hurdled the committee’s scrutiny.

Of the 111 barangays, 57 were from the provinces of Negros Occidental, Guimaras, Capiz, Aklan, Antique, and Bacolod City; 38 were from the province of Iloilo (out of 49 applicant barangays); and 16 from Iloilo City (out of 119 applicant barangays).

The 16 barangays in Iloilo City were Bonifacio Tanza, Liberation and San Felix in the City Proper; Arguelles, Buhang, Buntatala, Dungon A, and Montinola in Jaro district; Bantud and Burgos Mabini Plaza from La Paz district; Cochero, Infante, North Fundidor, San Pedro, and Tap-oc in Molo district; and Jalandoni Estate in Lapuz district.

According to Director Alex Tablate of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Region 6, lead agency of the committee, some applicant barangays failed to meet the parameters set by the Dangerous Drugs Board, particularly the requirement on the rehabilitation of drug surrenderers.

Regarding the 111 barangays, Tablate said, “Recommendation pa lang ‘’yan. May mga monitoring pa at further validation.”

The next deliberation of the committee is on April 23. More barangays in the region are expected to apply.

Western Visayas has a total of 4,051 barangays. The committee has already declared as drug-cleared 3,127 barangays (77.20 percent of the total).

Tablate expressed misgivings yesterday over the non-attendance of some municipal mayors in the deliberations and for not supporting their police forces’ campaign against illegal drugs.

Local chief executives must be present in the deliberations so they could speak about their towns vis-à-vis the antidrug campaign, said Tablate.

“We will write letters to the mayors na hindi nag-attend. Nagpapakita lang na hindi sila serious in the drug-clearing drive. Sana naman huwag nilang i-asa lahat sa mga pulis kasi ang dami na nilang trabaho. Magpakita naman sila ng suporta,” added Tablate.

Other parameters that barangays must meet to achieve a drug-cleared status are:

* non-availability of illegal drugs

* absence of drug dens, pushers and users, protectors or financiers

* absence of clandestine drug laboratories, warehouses, marijuana cultivation sites

* no drug transit or transshipment activity

* active involvement of barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan officials in anti-drug activities

* conduct of drug awareness, preventive education and information campaign

* operation of voluntary and compulsory drug treatment and rehabilitation processing desk/PN

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