SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – The northernmost town of Libertad is the first to be given a certificate as drug-cleared municipality in the province of Antique.
After receiving the recognition, Libertad Mayor Mary Jean Te said she is much elated to receive such certification from the Regional Oversight Committee headed by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and composed of other agencies, including the Philippine National Police, Department of Health and Department of the Interior and Local Government.
“I am so proud that our municipality of Libertad is the first to have been given such a certification in the province,”Te said in an interview Monday.
The certificate was handed to her by Antique Provincial Police Office Director Leo Irwin Agpangan.
She said Libertad has 19 barangays (villages), nine of which had been identified as drug-affected.
“We conducted community based rehabilitation to 21 drug surrenderees,” she said.
She said the community-based rehabilitation (CBR) was held for a month during the first quarter of 2018, during which, drug surrenderers underwent spiritual and psychological interventions.
“We also provided livelihood assistance for the drug surrenderers like mangrove tree-planting,” she said.
Te said the drug surrenderers were also being closely monitored by the identified focal person of the local government unit so that they would not be tempted to return to using drugs. (Annabel Consuelo Petinglay/PNA)
