NEGROS Occidental Acting Governor Jeffrey Ferrer challenged the Philippine National Police (PNP)) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to intensify their campaign against illegal drugs in the province.
Ferrer made the comment after the report that Negros Occidental and Bacolod City topped the list of the PNP with the most number of high-value target drug personalities.
The vice governor said he has not yet received the report from the Police Regional Office-Western Visayas.
He said that the illegal drugs problem in the province is “really a big problem with the recent operations that seized big volumes of illegal drugs.”
“I congratulate them for their efforts but it is better if they can track down who brings in the big volumes and arrest them,” he added.
Ferrer said the police knows “who are these drug personalities especially in Bacolod.”
“They should not focus only in Bacolod but in other areas outside because it is also distributed there too,” he said.
However, he clarified that he does not believe that there is “drug factory in the province.”
I have to protect the province, he said.
A report from PRO-Western Visayas showed that Negros Occidental and Bacolod City have the most number of high-value target (HVT) drug personalities in Western Visayas.
Of the 105 total HVT in the region, Negros Occidental has the most number with 50 followed by Bacolod City with 32 targets.
Iloilo province- 11, Capiz- 4, Antique and Iloilo City- three each, and Aklan and Guimaras provinces one each, records show.
Bacolod City and Negros Occidental are two areas in Western Visayas where millions of pesos worth of illegal drugs, particularly methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu, were confiscated in recent months.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Joem Malong, PRO-Western Visayas spokesperson, clarified that the number could change because of the “reloading” during the periodic assessment of the Regional Oversight Committee.
Ferrer also asked PRO-Western Visayas to show evidence to prove their report.