OF THE 61 villages in Bacolod City, only Barangay 5 has been declared free from illegal drugs by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-Western Visayas yesterday.
Village chieftain Raymundo Salaveria of Barangay 5 yesterday confirmed that he presented his report at PDEA regional office where they got a positive result.
He said he was given 10 minutes to present their barangay accomplishments in the campaign against illegal drugs along with the director of Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO), chief of Police Station 2 and representatives from City Mayor’s Office.
“There was no objection from the regional oversight committee, they were satisfied with our reports,” he added.
PDEA had earlier re-evaluated Barangay 5, along with Barangays 24 and 41 to be declared drug-free
In 2017, these three barangays were declared drug-free by PDEA but was not recognized after the documents were not signed by the committee. It was also at that time the Negros Island Region was abolished.
“We are happy that we passed and we are the first barangay in Bacolod declared as drug-free,” Salaveria said.
He said Barangay 5 is one of the smallest barangays in the city with a total population of 821 where only 20 percent is residential and 80 percent is institutional or commercial areas.
“There are no identified drug personalities within our barangay and we conducted several drug symposiums to educate our constituents,” Salaveria added.
Salaveria noted that they organized the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council (Badac) to address the drug problem in the village with the assistance of Bacolod City Police Office and the village tanods.
He said every three months, Badac will re-validate their village to maintain a drug-free village.
“We are willing to help other barangays to be declared drug cleared,” he added.
Aside from Barangay 5, there are also 10 other barangays that are candidates to be declared free from illegal drugs.
These are Barangays 4, 17, 18, 24, 41, Cabug, Granada, Alangilan, Vista Alegre and Felisa.
Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran had earlier said the City Government need the cooperation of the barangay officials to address the illegal drug problem and he is hopeful that more barangays will be declared drug-free.