ILOILO City – Seventy drug personalities listed in the watch lists of several barangay drug abuse councils (BADACs) could no longer be accounted.
These personalities have left their barangays, according to Atty. Ferdinand Panes, chief of the Department of Interior and Local Government – Iloilo City, citing the validation conducted by the City Peace and Order Council (CPOC).
“Sa pagkamatuod wala na da, indi na makita. Nagsaylo sa iban nga lugar (They could no longer be found. They likely moved to another area),” said Panes.
The continued inclusion of these personalities in their barangays’ BADAC watch lists prevents these villages from being declared drug-cleared.
“Unfair sa barangay nga nakarga sa ila,” said Panes.
Thus during a recent meeting, the CPOC passed a resolution recommending the delisting of these drug personalities. The idea came from the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) which got a similar recommendation from the BADACs of villages concerned.
Of the 70 drug personalities, nine were from the City Proper, six from La Paz district, 12 from Jaro, nine from Molo, 33 from Mandurriao and one from Arevalo, ICPO data showed.
Meanwhile, the CPOC planned to form a technical working group to come up with a formula determining the approximate volume of illegal drugs entering the city.
“When you have at the very least an approximate volume of illegal drugs entering the city, you can make better plans on how to address the problem. The data would be helpful to the police and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency,” said Panes./PN
