• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Eleven of the 32 towns and cities in Negros Occidental have been declared as drug-cleared by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
During the Provincial Peace and Order Council and Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Council third quarter joint meeting on Thursday (Sept. 5), PDEA provincial officer Cornelio Espartero Jr. said that local government units with 100 percent drug- cleared barangays include the municipalities of E.B. Magalona, Candoni, La Castellana, Manapla, Moises Padilla, Pulupandan, Valladolid as well as the cities of Victorias, Bago, Silay and Sipalay.
Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, who presided the joint meeting, said he noted that there are more drug-cleared areas now in the province although the target is really to go 100 percent drug-cleared barangays.
Lacson lauded the PDEA and the Philippine National Police (PNP) for a job well done as he also observed that barangay officials have realized the importance of having their villages drug-cleared.
While it is a tall order, the governor said that he wants the PDEA and the PNP to make Negros Occidental barangays drug-cleared the same way other provinces in Western Visayas have done so.
The PDEA report indicated that 489 of the 601 Negros Occidental barangays, excluding highly-urbanized Bacolod City, have been declared as drug-cleared villages.
All over Western Visayas, PDEA reported that the provinces of Aklan, Guimaras and Antique are 100 percent drug-cleared.
Iloilo province is 99.59 drug cleared, followed by Capiz – 93. 45 percent; Iloilo City – 52.78 percent; and Bacolod City – 34.43 percent. | GB
