Leia Alcantara, the spokesperson of PDEA-7.
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Forty-nine more barangays and one municipality in Central Visayas have applied for drug clearing assessment.
These areas were from Cebu Province, Negros Oriental, and Bohol.
If the applications of the 49 barangays and one town will be approved during the upcoming deliberation, which will happen by the end of October or early November, this will add to 1, 329 existing drug-cleared barangays and five drug-cleared municipalities in the region.
To date, Central Visayas also had 116 drug-free barangays, said Leia Alcantara, spokesperson of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas.
Central Visayas has 3, 003 barangays.
Empowered grassroots
The increasing number of drug-cleared barangays in the region indicates that the grassroots or the community has been empowered and that they already have the initiative in helping the authorities in the fight against illegal drug proliferation.
“…the grassroot level, community itself are really participating in our campaign against illegal drugs, nakasabot sila nga dili lang diay law enforcement effort dapat ang anti-illegal drug campaign. Dapat from the ground, kita mismo nagpuyo sa community, sa mga barangays,” Alcantara said.
(The grassroot level, community itself are really participating in our campaign against illegal drugs, they now understand that it is not just the law enforcement effort in the anti-illegal drug campaign. This should come from the ground, we, the residents ourselves in the community.)
Aside from the community, the local executive chief in every locality also has a huge role in this campaign, especially in the creation of ordinances and regulations.
Alcantara said that the campaign against illegal drugs was not only about the supply reduction, or their continuous illegal drug operations, but also about the demand reduction.
“Dapat balanse ang atoang campaign (Our campaign should be balanced), there should be supply reduction and demand reduction,” she added.
With the said drug-cleared barangays and municipalities, so as with the drug-free ones, Alcantara said that there were no areas where their statuses were revoked.
However, they continue to monitor its activeness in their efforts against illegal drugs.
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