BY RUBY P. SILUBRICO & RHENJIE MARIE CALANTAS
ILOILO City – The province of Capiz had the highest number of village officials involved in illegal drugs, data from Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) showed.
Of 76 drug-linked village officials in the region, three village chiefs and 17 barangay kagawads were in Capiz.
Meanwhile, the island province of Guimaras had zero village officials involved in illegal drugs.
Below is the breakdown for the remaining provinces and capital cities:
Negros Occidental – 15 (five village chiefs and 10 kagawads)
* Iloilo – 15 (four village chiefs and 11 kagawads)
* Antique – 12 (four village chiefs and eight kagawads)
* Aklan – 11 (three village chiefs and eight kagawads)
* Iloilo City – 2 (one village chief and kagawad)
* Bacolod City – 1 kagawad
Police Major Mary Grace Borio, PRO-6 spokesperson, told Panay News the data was based on the 2016 records of tokhang surrenderees, who are still being monitored with the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections nearing.
“Indi lang nakon mahatag ang data kung sa subong naga pungko pa ni sila tanan kay if I am not mistaken, 2016 or 2017 kita nag-conduct sang aton nga tokhang, pero ang gina uytan naton subong amo ni ang 76,” Borio added.
Meanwhile, PRO-6 acting director Police Brigadier General Sidney Villaflor said of the 76 village officials, 29 had surrendered, five were arrested and 42 were delisted.
“Ang 76 na ito ay dati nag-surrender at nahuli (during the administration of then President Rodrigo Duterte). So patuloy pa rin ang ating pag-monitor sa kanilang activity. We are conducting counterintelligence monitoring,” Villaflor said.
The PRO-6 chief also said some of these village officials were protectors, while others were actively trafficking illegal drugs.
Villaflor also urged Western Visayans to continue being vigilant.
“Continue to do your part in our fight against illegal drugs. Pagtulungan nating matapos ang problema sa droga para sa kinabukasan ng ating mga anak,” Villaflor added./PN
