ILOILO City – For the first time since 2017, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Western Visayas will revalidate all “cleared” villages across the region to check if they have maintained their gains against illegal drugs.
Ma. Graziella Tanaleon, PDEA Region 6 spokesperson, said a total of 800 barangays will be revisited within this month.
“We need to revalidate barangays declared drug-cleared kay basi may ara nga wala naka-maintain,” she said.
According to Tanaleon, 3,253 villages or about 80 percent of 4,051 villages in Western Visayas have so far been cleared of illegal drugs since the Regional Oversight Committee on Dangerous Drugs started assessing drug-affected barangays.
There are 798 barangays still waiting to be cleared.
First to be reviewed are barangays in Antique, Iloilo province and Aklan. These provinces, according to Tanaleon, have a higher percentage of barangays deliberated and declared as officially unaffected by illegal drugs or drug-cleared.
“The review does not necessarily mean there were illegal drug “activities” but they will be looking into their compliance and activities during the post-operation phase of the barangay drug-clearing program,” she said.
Among the specific parameters is the inventory of drug personalities. Tanaleon said it will be looked into if they all have graduated from community-based rehabilitation program or if they are pusher-surrenderers who completed the Balay Silangan Reformation Program.
They will likewise check on the whereabouts of drug personalities who transferred residences.
While the revalidation entails fewer paper works, it is more meticulous, she added, because it is more on intelligence activities.
“That is why we always advise our barangay officials to maintain and sustain their status as drug-cleared. It is not permanent,” she said, adding that so far no barangay was served with a revocation status.
Meanwhile, the oversight committee will be deliberating on the drug-cleared application of 42 barangays from 26 local government units in the region. The deliberation will be conducted in Leganes, Iloilo on Feb. 17./PN
