THE Philippine National Police (PNP)-Northern Mindanao reported a total of 1,589 barangays or 79 percent of the 2,022 barangays in the region that are drug-affected as of the second quarter of 2019.
According to the report, of the drug-stained barangays, less than half or 732 were cleared after the evaluation of the Regional Oversight Committee on Dangerous Drugs headed by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
Misamis Occidental posted the most number of cleared barangays at 272, followed by Lanao del Norte at 228, and Bukidnon at 94.
Misamis Oriental, which recorded 466 drug-affected barangays, posted a total of 79 cleared barangays and has the remaining 320 barangays to be evaluated and cleared.
Iligan City reported the least number of cleared barangays at six from the total 35 drug-affected barangays, followed by Cagayan de Oro City at seven from the registered 80 drug-affected barangays.
There are a total of 857 drug-affected barangays in Northern Mindanao that are yet to be evaluated and cleared, according to PNP-Northern Mindanao's report.
Meanwhile, a 10 percent reduction in the total crime volume in the region was registered during the second quarter of 2019, from 3,868 in the same period of 2018 to 3,493.
Crime against person reduced at 18 percent from 376 to 309 in the same period last year with 28 percent posted for rape (from 120 in 2018 to 86 in 2019).
The average monthly crime rate in Northern Mindanao also declined from 26.57 per 100,000 population in the second quarter of 2018 to 23.59 per 100,000 population in the same period of this year.
Almost all police offices posted reductions in the average monthly crime rate, except for Iligan City and Camiguin.