65 Cebu barangays claim to be ‘drug-free’

NOBLE

More barangays in Cebu have recently claimed to be “drug-free.”

Senior Supt. Eric Noble, director of the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO), told reporters on Thursday that 65 more barangays in Cebu also claimed to be free of the illegal substance.

These villages are located in the municipalities of Dumanjug, Tabuelan, San Francisco, Poro, Tudela, and Pilar, he said.

The areas earned their status based on the standards set by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in accordance to the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) Regulation 2 which provides the guidelines for the drug-clearing operations in the barangays.

They joined 16 other barangays in Alcoy, Boljoon, and Santander which earlier claimed to be drug-free.

Noble said the Cebu Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Office (CPADAO) will verify the claims of the 16 barangays and will make the formal declaration on whether or not the localities are free from the influence of illegal drugs.

“These barangays have to prove that they are really drug-free. It’s as if they will be defending a thesis,” he said.

According to the DDB regulations, an area can be considered drug-clear in the absence of the following: drug supply or drug transit/transshipment activities; drug laboratories and warehouses, chemical warehouses; marijuana cultivation sites; drug dens; users and pushers; and drug protectors, coddlers, and financiers.

A drug-cleared barangay must also have barangay officers who are active in various anti-illegal drug activities such as a drug awareness and preventive campaign.

It should also have a voluntary and compulsory drug treatment and rehabilitation processing desk.

Insp. Jade Sumugat of the Poro Police Station on Camotes Islands said they still have drug users in their area but all of them already surrendered to authorities.

“The barangays are doing something to help drug users get rid of their bad habit,” Sumugat said.

Noble said the four municipalities on Camotes Islands have felt a decrease in the supply of illegal drugs since self-confessed drug lord Rolando “Kerwin” Espinosa Jr. was arrested by police, and after drug personality Alvaro “Barok” Alvaro surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation.