THE Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) revealed that all 61 barangays in Bacolod City are affected by illegal drugs.
The latest data from PDEA- Western Visayas show that in the region, only Bacolod City does not have a barangay cleared of the illegal drug problem plaguing the entire country.
PDEA record shows that Aklan, with 327 barangays, had 127 of them declared drug-free barangays.
In Antique, which has 590 barangays, 110 barangays has been cleared of the illegal drug problem.
In Capiz, 79 barangays were declared drug-free from its 473 barangays.
Guimaras has 98 barangays and 46 of them are drug-free.
Iloilo Province is home to 1,721 barangays, 454 of which were already declared drug-free. In Negros Occidental, there are 601 barangays and 96 of them are already drug-free.
Among the major cities, all of Bacolod’s 61 cities were considered to be affected by the illegal drug problem. At least there were two barangays cleared in Iloilo City, which is home to 180 barangays.
PDEA- Western Visayas Director Alex Tablate said that the next Regional Oversight Committee (ROC) Validation is on March 19.
He explained that the ROC is composed of different government agencies like the Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Health, Philippine National Police, with the PDEA regional director as chairman. The local chief executives are also members of the ROC.
The ROC is the committee that declares a barangay as drug-free after its barangay council passes a resolution stating that the village is unaffected by drugs.
Tablate also explained that while all barangays in Bacolod City were found to have been affected by drugs, they were only “moderately affected” in terms of categorization. This classification means that there is a reported presence of drug pusher/s and user/s in the area.
“The pushers need to be rehabilitated in a center called Balay Silangan, the building of which is already being rehabilitated. Once it is done, all drug surrenderees will be gathered for rehabilitation. That would be the start of the processing for the declaration of a drug-free barangay,” Tablate said.