THE Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) confirmed that 393 barangays in Western Visayas passed the tough process employed by the Barangay Drug Clearing Program to be finally declared “drug-cleared” or “officially unaffected” villages.
The barangays come from the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Iloilo and Negros Occidental.
The declaration was made on Wednesday, March 20, during the 14th Regional Oversight Committee (ROC) Deliberation held at the Casa Real de Iloilo, Old Capitol Building in Iloilo City.
The ROC Deliberation of Barangays was headed by PDEA Western Visayas Chief Alex M. Tablate, together with the Police Regional Office, Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Department of Health and the local government units.
Out of the 522 barangays in the region which submitted their intention for drug-clearing, only 393 barangays were able to comply with the parameters and the documentary requirements as set forth by the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB).
To date, more than 2,000 barangays out of more than 4,000 barangays in Western Visayas, or 50 percent more or less, have already been declared by the ROC as either “drug-cleared” or “officially unaffected,” according to PDEA.
According to the DDB, a drug-cleared barangay is one that was “classified as previously affected and subjected to drug-clearing operation and declared free from any illegal drug activities.” A drug-unaffected barangay, on the other hand, “has not ever been plagued or beset by any illegal drug activities.”