THE Regional Oversight Committee (ROC) cleared 3,328 of a total 4,051 barangays in the whole of Western Visayas of illegal drugs.
The figure constitutes 82 percent of all villages in the region, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Western Visayas reported.
PDEA-Western Visayas Spokesperson Ma. Graziella Tanaleon said the last barangays to be added to the growing list of drug-free villages in the region were the 26 barangays that were cleared by the ROC on April 27.
Based on the latest data from PDEA-Western Visayas, of the 180 barangays in the City of Iloilo, only 86 or less than half have been cleared while the province of Iloilo submitted better numbers as ROC was able to declare 1,640 of the total 1,721 barangays — a whopping 95.29 percent — as drug-free.
On the other hand, 12 of the 61 barangays (19.67 percent) in Bacolod City were cleared of illegal drugs, while in Negros Occidental, 237 out of 601 villages (39.43 percent) were now drug-free.
Meanwhile, 119 barangays in Capiz province have yet to be cleared of prohibited drugs, with the provinces of Guimaras, Aklan and Antique needing to clear only 8, 4 and 4 barangays, respectively.
Based on the guidelines set by Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) Resolution No. 3, series of 2017, a particular barangay can be declared as drug-free if:
a) there is no supply of illegal drugs;
b) no drug transit or transshipment activity;
c) no presence of clandestine drug laboratory;
d) no clandestine drug warehouse;
e) no clandestine chemical warehouse;
f) no marijuana cultivation site;
g) no drug den, dive, or resort;
h) no drug dealers or pushers operating in the area;
i) no drug user or dependents;
j) no protector, coddler, or financier of the illegal drug business;
k) barangay officials have an active involvement in anti-drug
l) the Sangguniang Kabataan officials have an active role in helping maintain the “drug-liberated” status of the barangay;
m) the conduct of drug awareness campaign, preventive education and information, and other similar programs; and
n) the presence of voluntary and compulsory drug treatment and rehabilitation processing desk.