1,057 Central Visayas barangays are drug cleared, says PDEA-7

Director III Levi Ortiz, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA-7) director

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7) said 1,057 barangays in the region are now declared drug-cleared while 116 are considered drug-free  since 2016.

Of around 3,003 barangays in Central Visayas, PDEA-7 Director III Levi Ortiz said that they now have 1,057 drug-cleared barangays and 116 drug-free barangays that they are closely and constantly monitoring. 

Of these drug-cleared barangays, Cebu province has the most number with around 418 followed by Bohol province with 393. Negros Oriental has 122 drug cleared baranagys and Siquijor with 107.

For the tri-cities, Cebu City has 11 drug-cleared barangays, followed by Lapu-Lapu City with four, and Mandaue with two.

“Sa Cebu City walay unaffected, affected gyud tanan. Pero the good news is kugihan kaayo ilang LGU. In fact, 11 na kabuok atoang na drug cleared sa Cebu City. This is not an easy task considering nga ang Cebu City is the center of gravity sa drugs,” Ortiz said.

(In Cebu City, there are no areas that are unaffected, all were affected. But the good news is the LGUs are very hardworking. In fact, there are 11 drug-cleared barangays in Cebu City. This is not an easy task considering that Cebu City is the center of gravity for drugs.)

‘Tedious process’

With this, they anticipate that more barangays will be declared as drug cleared in their future meetings with the Regional Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug Clearing (ROCBDC) as they observed that local government units in the region are active in submitting their applications to declare their respective barangays as drug cleared.

“Dili man gud ni basta-basta ang clearing. It is a very tedious process. In fact, after ma drug cleared ang nga barangay, malipay gyud ang LGU kay tungods ilang kahago kay daghan kaayo sila’g gi comply nga papers,” Ortiz said.

(Drug clearing is not easy and simple. It is a very tedious process. In fact, after a barangay is drug cleared, the LGUs will be happy considering the efforts they exert in complying the papers needed.)

But Ortiz said that despite this development, the work continues for the agency.

“It will not stop there. Dira nata magsugod sa pag monitor, pag maintain sa drug cleared status,” he added.

(It will not stop there. Instead, we start to monitor them to maintain the drug cleared status.)

Ortiz again reiterated that barangays that are drug cleared means that all known drug personalities are already accounted and were given proper intervention programs. If they are users and surrendered, they will undergo a community-based drug rehab program.

On the other hand, drug-free barangays are those unaffected barangays that are already vetted and confirmed by the ROCBDC.

If they are drug pushers, they will be placed in Balay Silangan and undergo a reformation program and will be monitored.

READ: Balay Silangan now open for reformation of drug pushers 

As much as possible, Ortiz said that they are eyeing that by next year, the remaining barangays here will be drug cleared.

Ortiz added that declaring a barangay as drug cleared is crucial as activities with villages will be strictly monitored and that the entry of illegal drugs will no longer be easy.

Basing on the stories on the ground, Ortiz said that barangay officials and residents have expressed that there is a huge difference when their barangay is declared drug-cleared as the community feels safer.

/bmjo

READ:

Can a drug-cleared status be reverted?

PDEA-7 expects more drug-cleared barangays with new DDB regulation