ILOILO CITY — The Regional Oversight Committee chaired by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) declared Miag-ao town in Iloilo province as a drug-cleared municipality on Wednesday.
Municipal mayor, Dr. Macario Napulan, said in a phone interview on Thursday 119 villages in the town were already cleared of illegal drug activities.
“All the 119 villages now have the absence of drug supply, drug pushers, drug users and drug dependents,” Napulan said.
He said 22 villages in town had recorded illegal drug activities with 102 “Oplan Tokhang” surrenderers.
The drug-affected villages are mostly situated in the town proper while some are along the national highway, Napulan said.
“These villages underwent community rehabilitation and seminar-workshops through the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office (MSWDO) and the Department of Health (DOH),” he said.
The remaining unaffected villages also underwent validation.
Napulan said the municipality had satisfied and complied with all the parameters during the validation of the Regional Oversight Committee composed of PDEA, DOH, Philippine National Police (PNP), and the Department of the Interior and Local Governance (DILG).
The 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 were the criteria for a village to be pronounced drug-free, based on the Dangerous Drugs Board’s (DDB) Regulation No. 3.
Another challenge for the town is sustaining its drug-cleared status, he added.
“We continue to empower our Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council (BADAC) to maintain our recent accomplishment,” Napulan said.
He emphasized that BADACs in all villages in Miag-ao are well-organized and operational.
Napulan said he regularly gathers the members of the BADAC to assure the sustainability of the town’s drug-cleared status
