ILOILO CITY — Another batch of 103 villages in Western Visayas were declared drug-cleared on Friday.
These barangays were declared drug-cleared following a series of deliberations conducted by the Regional Oversight Committee, said Wardley Getalla, Regional Director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 6 (Western Visayas).
Getalla said that most of these drug-cleared villages are in the town of Alimodian, Iloilo with 42, followed by Cabatuan, Iloilo, 22; San Remigio, Antique, 15; Bingawan, Iloilo, 14; Tubungan, Iloilo, 9; and Mina, Iloilo with only one.
Earlier, PDEA-6 also declared 111 villages in the region as drug-cleared.
Iloilo province has the most number of drug-cleared villages with 34; 15 of which are in the towns of Mina; 11 in Janiuay; and eight in Maasin town.
Aklan followed with 24; 15 of which are in the town of Libacao and nine in Malinao.
Antique had 22, all in the town of Hamtic; and Negros Occidental with 15, all in the town of Pulupandan.
Under the Dangerous Drugs Board Regulation No.3, barangays could be declared as drug-cleared when they meet the following conditions: non-availability of illegal drugs, absence of illegal drug transshipment activity, absence of clandestine illegal drug laboratory, absence of clandestine illegal drug warehouse, absence of clandestine illegal chemical warehouse, absence of marijuana cultivation site, absence of drug den, absence of drug pushers, absence of drug users/dependents, absence of protectors/coddlers and financiers.
Getalla said no village in Iloilo City has been declared as drug-cleared.
He said the huge population in Iloilo City made it a highly-urbanized city and the number of drug personalities here are among the contributory factors that village chiefs find difficult to clear.
“They (village chiefs) need ample time to really focus and do drug-clearing,” he said.
However, Getalla assured that they will intensify their drug clearing operations in this city, as well as in nearby areas in the coming days.
“We are looking forward to declare some drug-cleared barangays in highly urbanized cities,” he said. (Cindy Ferrer/PNA)
