At least 58 barangays in Central Visayas are now considered as drug-cleared while five others are drug-free. | photo courtesy of PDEA-7
MANDAUE CITY, Cebu — At least 25 more barangays in Cebu Island were already given a drug-cleared status by law enforcers here.
This brings the total number of drug-cleared barangays to 1,009 in Central Visayas as of Wednesday, September 29, 2021.
The additional barangays are almost a half of the total number of 58 barangays that were recently given the said status by the Regional Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug Clearing (ROCBDC) on Wednesday, September 28.
Bantayan town in Bantayan Island has the highest number of drug-cleared barangays with five, followed by Tuburan (4), Cebu City (3), Daanbantayan (3), Dumanjug (3), Santa Fe (2).
In Cebu City, only barangays Pari-an, Sudlon 2, and Toong were declared as such.
Other towns and cities in the island having one drug-cleared barangay include Mandaue City, Lapu-Lapu City, Malabuyoc, Ronda, San Fernando, Talisay City, Naga City, and Badian.
In Negros Oriental, there were 14 barangays declared drug-cleared, while Siquijor and Bohol have 11 and 6, respectively.
Meanwhile, drug-free status were also given to three barangays in Cebu, two of which were in Kaorasan and Ga-ang in Tuburan town in northern Cebu, and one in Badian town in the south.
Barangays with drug-cleared status are those barangays that used to be affected by illegal drugs problem, but personalities in these areas had already surrendered themselves and had availed of interventions and other government programs.
Whereas, a drug free status is given to unaffected barangays that have been vetted and confirmed by the ROCBDC.
Levi Ortiz, director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7), who also sits as chairman of the ROCBDC, earlier expressed his appreciation for barangays that continued to implement the Barangay Drug Clearing Program (BDCP).
The regional director, however, reminded the barangays that their status might be reverted in the event that new drug personalities would surface or if those who availed of the existing interventions and programs would turn back to their old ways.
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