THE Central Visayas police chief has questioned the drug-cleared status of Bogo City and other villages, saying illegal drug trade has not stopped despite the anti-narcotics operations.
Chief Superintendent Debold Sinas, Police Regional Office (PRO)-Central Visayas director, said on Wednesday, October 3, that the oversight committee will re-evaluate the records. It is led by Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-Central Visayas and composed of other government agencies, including the police.
"I'm just targeting Bogo because Bogo is a city. Sentro pa na. Naa diha mangagi mga bus, naa pay eskuylahan. Including the Poblacion, drug free?" Sinas said.
(That is the center. That’s where buses pass and there are schools)
In July 2017, Bogo City, composed of 29 barangays, became the first local government unit (LGU) in Central Visayas to be declared drug-cleared.
The declaration happened during the time of Chief Superintendent Noli Taliño, then PRO-Central Visayas director.
Sinas and other 150 police officers from Cebu City, Mandaue City, Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu Province, Siquijor, Bohol and Negros Oriental attended the lecture of PDEA-Northern Mindanao Director Wilkins Villanueva on the government drug-clearing program.
Villanueva asked PDEA-Central Visayas Wardley Getalla to send him the files on Bogo City villages so he can review it himself.
For Villanueva, it is difficult for a whole city to be cleared from any illegal drug activities.
The barangays in Bogo City are Cogon, Odlot, Binabag, La Paz, Siocon, Guadalupe, Cayang, Anonang Norte, Banban, Marangog, Dakit, Don Pedro, Anonang Sur, San Vicente, Libertad, Polambato, La Purisima Concepcion, Sudlonan, Bungtod, Carbon, Gairan, Lourdes, Malingin, Pandan, Nailon, Sto. Nino, Sto. Rosario, Taytayan and Sambag.
Sinas said the city anti-narcotics operatives have arrested pushers in the past months.
Villanueva said an LGU risks to lose its drug-cleared status if there is a pusher caught in one of its barangays. (KAL)