ILOILO City – Three barangays in the city have been “cleared” from dangerous drugs.
The Regional Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug-Clearing Operation certified as “drug-cleared” barangays Luna and Santa Isabel in Jaro district and Sampaguita in City Proper.
“We would like to congratulate these three barangays and their barangays officials,” said Mayor Jose Espinosa III.
“Five or more” other barangays may be declared drug-cleared soon, said Espinosa. “Their papers are now with the Regional Oversight Committee.”
With the help of the Iloilo City Barangay Drug-Clearing Program Assistance (ICBDCPA) Team, Luna, Santa Isabel and Sampaguita were able to comply with parameters for drug-cleared villages set in Section 6 of the Dangerous Drugs Board Regulation No. 3, series of 2017.
Espinosa was one of those who signed the drug-cleared barangay certificates handed to the three villages.
Other signatories were Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency regional director Wardley Getalla, Regional Oversight Committee chairman; Interior department regional director Anthony Nuyda, vice chairman; and Health department regional director Marlyn Convocar and Police Regional Office 6 director Chief Superintendent Cesar Hawthorne Binag, committee members.
The Regional Oversight Committee found that there were no more drug supply; drug transit or transshipment activity; clandestine drug laboratory and drug warehouse; clandestine chemical warehouse; marijuana cultivation site; drug den, dive, or resort; drug pusher; drug user/dependent; and protector/coddler/financier in the three barangays.
Other parameters the three barangays have complied with were:
* active involvement of barangay officials in anti-drug activities
* active involvement of the Sangguniang Kabataan to help maintain the drug-cleared status
* existence of drug awareness
* preventive education and information, and other related programs
* existence of voluntary and compulsory drug treatment and rehabilitation processing desk
Luna, Santa Isabel and Sampaguita were among the first batch of 10 barangays the ICBDCPA Team was helping. Others were Edganzon, Osmeña, Kauswagan, and San Jose in City Proper; San Jose I in Jaro; and Banuyao in La Paz.
Espinosa created the ICBDCPA Team via Executive Order No. 124 to assess the drug-clearing initiatives in all 180 barangays in the city.
More specifically, its functions and responsibilities include:
* assist barangays in the preparation of lacking requirements and the conduct of other required activities toward the successful declaration of their drug-free status
* coordinate with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, the Philippine National Police, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, and other concerned government agencies and offices to seek further clarification or assistance necessary for the declaration of drug free barangays
* coordinate and recommend to the ICADAC chair the barangays which have satisfied all the requirements for the declaration of drug-free barangays that they be declared as such
* submit a status report of the progress of each barangay to the ICADAC chair inclusive of their observations and concerns./PN
