ILOILO CITY — All 51 villages of the municipality of Alimodian in Iloilo province have been cleared of illegal drugs.
On Thursday, nine remaining villages of the town received their certification of being drug-cleared from the Western Visayas Regional Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug-Clearing Operation, which is chaired by Wardley Getalla, director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 6 (Western Visayas).
A total of 42 villages in Alimodian were already declared as drug-cleared last month.
The nine villages are Poblacion, Sinamay, Cuyad, Quinaspan, Pajo, Cabacanan Proper, Tabug, Bagumbayan-Ilajas, and Taban-Manguining.
In a media interview, Mayor Geefre Alonsabe said the nine villages were previously affected by illegal drugs while the previous 42 villages were unaffected.
“The process of screening of unaffected and affected villages is not the same. Affected villages undergo deep process and number of validation, and re-assessment has been conducted until they have concluded that they pass the parameters of a drug-cleared village,” he said.
Under the Dangerous Drugs Board’s (DDB) Regulation No.3, a village is considered drug-cleared once it meets several criteria: 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.
Alonsabe credited the clearing of all villages in his town to all their hard work and initiatives in the fight against illegal drugs.
“I can conclude that Alimodian is a drug-cleared municipality in the province of Iloilo,” he stressed.
Alonsabe assured they will continue to be vigilant so the problem on illegal drugs would not recur.
“That is my challenge to all of my village chiefs, that they should not stop because it is still not the end of our fight against illegal drugs,” he said.
“I hope that they will continue to work to sustain their status and continue to be vigilant against illegal drugs,” he added.
The nine villages received their certification at the municipal hall of Alimodian. (Cindy Ferrer/PNA)
