• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Ten of the 31 local government units (LGUs) in Negros Occidental, excluding the highly-urbanized Bacolod City, have been declared drug cleared by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) as of December last year.
Based on the PDEA report, the drug cleared LGUs include the municipalities of E.B. Magalona, Candoni, La Castellana, Manapla, Moises Padilla, Pulupandan and Valladolid as well as the cities of Bago, Sipalay and Victorias, comprising a total of 175 barangays.
Some 471 of the 601 barangays in 31 LGUs have been declared as drug-cleared, the report added.
Also, 12 more barangays, including Tiling in Cauayan, Jonob-Jonob and Langud in Escalante City, Gargato in Hinigaran, Lopez Jaena in Murcia, Guinhalaran and Mambulac in Silay City and Barangay Zone 12 in Talisay City, have been added to the list of drug-cleared barangays, said PDEA-Negros Occidental provincial officer Cornelio Espartero.
These barangays have reached the drug-cleared status after the issuance of a certification by members of the Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug-Clearing Program.
The Oversight Committee, which is chaired by the PDEA, is composed of provincial representatives of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Philippine National Police, Department of Health and the LGUs.
Before declaring a barangay free from illegal drug activities, the committee must convene and validate the non-availability of drug supply in the area and the absence of drug transit activity, clandestine drug laboratory and chemical warehouse, marijuana cultivation site, drug den, drug pusher and user.
The drug-cleared barangays are still subject for monitoring by the Oversight Committee to ensure maintenance of their status.
According to the PDEA report, there are still 130 barangays to be cleared of illegal drugs activities, including the 20 villages in Calatrava, 15 in Kabankalan City, 13 in Escalante City, 11 in Murcia, nine in San Carlos City, eight each in the cities of Cadiz and Sagay, six in Binalbagan, five each in Hinigaran and Cauayan, four in San Enrique, three in Isabela, two each in Himamaylan City, Hinobaan, Pontevedra, Silay City, Toboso, and one each in Ilog and Don Salvador Benedicto. | GB
