The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-Western Visayas (Region 6) has declared 489 out of the 601 villages in Negros Occidental as drug-cleared as of July 31 this year.
This indicates that 81.36 percent of the barangays in the province are now drug- cleared.
During its July 31 deliberations, the Regional Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug Clearing Program reported that nine more barangays, including seven villages in Negros Occidental and two in Iloilo, were added to the list as drug-cleared barangays.
The nine barangays include two in Talisay City, one each in Cadiz City, Kabankalan City, Bacolod City, Toboso and Hinigaran, all in Negros Occidental, and two in Oton, Iloilo.
The PDEA report also showed that 21 or 34.43 percent of the 61 barangays in Bacolod City are drug-cleared.
According to the guidelines of the anti-illegal drug operations, drug-cleared means that all those in the Philippine National Police and PDEA watchlist are already accounted for and have undergone rehabilitation.
For the retention of drug-cleared status, Negros Occidental logged six barangays, Capiz, 232; Iloilo, 1,055; and Aklan, 37.
As of July 31, a total of 3,776 of the 4,051 barangays in Western Visayas are drug-cleared, which means 275 villages have yet to be cleared of the drug menace.
All barangays in the provinces of Aklan, Antique and Guimaras have been declared as drug-cleared.
The Regional Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug Clearing Program is composed of representatives of the PDEA, PNP, Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Department of Health. ||
