LUBAO, Pampanga—Three more villages in this town were declared by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) as drug-cleared.
Barangays Sta. Teresa 1st; San Pedro Saug; and San Jose Gumi have passed the 14 rigid criteria, bringing to 12 the numbers of villages here already declared “drug-cleared”, using what is now referred to as the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council (BADAC)-clearing parameters.
The Lubao Municipal Police Station, led by officer-in-charge Supt. Angelito Esteban, said that they are on their way to having another barangay — San Pablo I — declared drug-cleared.
Esteban admitted that the new parameters set by PDEA are more difficult to satisfy.
“To have a single barangay declared drug-cleared is already a major accomplishment,” he said.
Among the criteria for the “drug-cleared” declaration are: a barangay should have an active intelligence network; an operational BADAC; regular status reporting of drug surrenderers who have also gone through the one-month reformation process; and there are no clandestine drug laboratories or dens that exist in the village.
Mayor Mylyn Pineda-Cayabyab said the local government unit is not taking the fight against illegal drugs lightly.
She directed barangay officials to coordinate closely with the police and other anti-drug agencies to eradicate the drug problem in their respective areas.
The recent clearing of barangays by the PDEA, she said, should not be a reason for the municipal and barangay officials to lower their guards against drugs.
“If we will not help each other in maintaining the drug-cleared status of these barangays, all of our efforts will prove futile as drugs will surely resurface in the villages,” Cayabyab said. (Marna Dagumboy Del Rosario/PNA)
