More than 40 Cebu villages eyed for drug-free status

MORE than 40 barangays were recommended for drug-free status that have yet to be validated by the Cebu Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Office (CPADAO).

CPADAO chief Ivy Durano-Meca said they have validated four barangays from Oslob, 16 barangays from Tabogon, 12 barangays from San Remigio, six barangays from Tabuelan, and nine barangays from Bogo City so far.

Of these areas, Bogo City is the first local government whose barangays were recommended for declaration as drug-free areas.

Meca said part of their validation includes determining the effectivity of the barangay’s anti-drug abuse council and their compliance with parameters set by the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) like the absence of drug-users in their areas.

Meca said they conducted surprise inspections on the surrenderers of the barangays they have validated and noted that there are still those who tested positive for substance abuse.

Meca said the barangays of San Remigio town that they validated had no surrenderers who tested positive for drugs along with Bogo City and Tabuelan town.

An undisclosed number of surrenderers tested positive in the barangays that they validated in Tabogon town and they are finishing the results for Oslob town.

Another series of drug tests will be conducted in these areas soon, Meca said.

She said there are barangays where only 10 percent of the surrenderers showed up while the others transferred to someplace else.

Meca said they will conclude their tests and report their findings to the oversight committee during their May 2 meeting.