THIRTY-EIGHT villages in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental were declared drug cleared or “officially unaffected” by the members of the Regional Oversight Committee on February 27.
Of the 38 villages, 36 are in Negros Occidental and two in Bacolod City.
In Negros Occidental, there were a total of 46 applicants while there were 14 applicants.
In the whole Western Visayas, 263 villages from 42 municipalities and cities applied for drug clearing during the 19th Regional Oversight Committee Deliberation sponsored by the Iloilo Provincial Capitol under Governor Arthur Defensor, Jr., held at the Casa Real Iloilo, Old Provincial Capitol Building, Iloilo City.
Of 263, only 111 villages successfully passed the deliberation process and were subsequently declared as “drug-cleared” or “officially unaffected” by the members of the Regional Oversight Committee, which included the DILG represented by Mr. Francis Oliver Ortiz, PNP represented by PCAPT Marlyn Roquero of the Police Regional Office VI, DOH represented by Mr. John Richard L. Lapascua and the LGU, with PDEA sitting as Chairman.
Director Alex Tablate of PDEA Regional Office VI emphasized the importance and role of the local government units in the successful deliberation of its barangays and highlighted the efforts of the PNP, DOH and DILG in the initial onsite validation process.
In total, Western Visayas is 76.92 percent cleared from illegal drugs, with 3,116 successfully deliberated out of 4,051 villages, PDEA record showed.