• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Talisay City in Negros Occidental is nearing its goal of becoming a 100 percent drug-cleared city after the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) evaluated three barangays for drug-cleared and drug-free status on Wednesday, Aug. 26.
The evaluation was conducted during the 13th Regional Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug Clearing deliberation and meeting held at the Talisay City Component Police Station conference room.
PDEA-Negros Island Region (NIR) assessed Barangay Zone 3’s application for drug-cleared barangay status while Barangays Cabatangan and Katilingban underwent assessment for the retention of their drug-free status.
If Zone 3 is granted drug-cleared status and the other two barangays retain their drug-free classification, all 27 barangays in Talisay City will have attained the required status, paving the way for the city’s declaration as a 100 percent drug-cleared city.
The barangays underwent the evaluation after complying with the requirements under Dangerous Drugs Board Regulation No. 4, Series of 2021.
Mayor Rowena Lopez-Lizares thanked the PDEA-NIR for conducting the regional oversight evaluation and expressed optimism over the outcome.
Present during the deliberation were Zone 3 village head Cirilo Ciocon, councilman Gilbert Malaga, and secretary Michelle Omlon as well as Talisay City Police Station chief PLt. Col. Salvador Trono Jr. | GPB
