FORTY-FOUR percent of the barangays in the country have been cleared from illegal drugs as of May 31, 2020, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said.
There are 42,045 barangays in the country. Of these, PDEA said 18,582 have been cleared since President Rodrigo Duterte launched his war on drugs in July 2016.
A total of 168,525 anti-illegal drugs operations have been conducted, which resulted in the killing of 5,722 alleged drug personalities and the arrest of 245,135 others.
Of the arrested drug personalities, 9,350 are considered high value targets.
They include 320 elected officials, 261 foreign nationals, 90 uniformed personnel, 376 government employees, 2,697 target listed, 735 drug group leaders or members, 62 armed group members, 902 drug den maintainers, 217 wanted listed, 10 celebrities or prominent personalities and 3,680 civilians who were arrested during “high-impact operations.”
The PDEA said 3,160 minors who were involved in illegal drugs operations were rescued during the conduct of the said operations.
It said 546 drug dens and 14 clandestine laboratories were dismantled by the authorities and P43.58 billion worth of various illegal substances were seized.
Among the substances seized were methamphetamine hydrochloride, cocaine, ecstacy and marijuana leaves.
Meanwhile, PDEA director Wilkins Villanueva said they have created a working group dedicated for the close monitoring of the nationwide implementation of the Barangay Drug Clearing Program (BDCP) designed to curb the proliferation of illegal drugs in the communities.
The BDCP Working Group for Monitoring and Validation (PB-WMV) is tasked to validate barangays with drug-cleared status after issuance of certification; gather analysis and provision of data related to drug-clearing of barangays; and empower implementers through seminars/trainings and preparation of audit, monthly and periodic reports. (Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo/SunStar Philippines)