At least 120 barangays out of the 1,066 barangays in Cebu Province will move a step closer to being declared as drug free barangays.
This developed after the Cebu Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Office (CPADAO) endorsed 128 barangays in the province as drug free to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7).
Ivy Durano-Meca, CPADAO head, said after their assessment of the 223 barangays recommended by the Cebu City Police Office (CPPO) as free of drugs, they cut the number down to 128 barangays.
Durano Meca said that they validated the data on the recommended barangays using the Dangerous Drug Board parameters and confirmed that each Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council (Badac) had been functioning.
She said that the Badac should have a budget for anti-drug abuse program and had to be guided with a plan of action.
She said that after PDEA-7 checks on those recommended barangays, it would then recommend which of these barangays are to be declared drug-free.
“These are cleared by CPPO, they first recommended, CPADAO validated. Since CPADAO is not capable in determining high value target, and we know for a fact that PDEA has different watchlist over pnp, so all of these brgys need to pass as well PDEA,” she said on why PDEA-7’s recommendation is needed.
The PDEA-7 recommendations would then forwarded to CPADAO, which would then forward these to Gov. Hilario Davide III, who had the authority to declare a barangay drug free.
During the Cebu Provincial Peace and Order Council meeting, Meca presented initial areas in the province where these barangays were.
Meca said 3 barangays are in the 1st district, 35 barangays in the 2nd district, 1 in the 3rd district, 20 barangays in the 4th district, 5 barangays i8n the 5th district, 15 in the 7th district, but none in the 6th district.