MANILA — All the barangays (villages) in the country are expected to have organized their own Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council (BADAC) by this month, as part of the Duterte administration’s campaign against illegal drugs, an official of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said on Wednesday.
During a roundtable discussion in Quezon City, Karl Cesar Rimando, DILG Assistant Director for National Barangay Operations Office, said as of June 25, 2018, out of the 42,044 barangays, 42,029 or 99.96 percent have organized BADACs in their respective localities.
“We are expecting that by July 31, there will be a 100 percent organized BADACs,” Rimando said.
The DILG, under Officer-In-Charge Secretary Eduardo Año, ordered the reorganization of the BADACs right after the conduct of the May 14 barangay and Sangguniang Kabaatan (youth council) polls.
The initiative was supported by the signing of Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1 Series of 2018 between the DILG and the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB), which aims to revitalize the BADAC as key in drug-clearing operations, by ensuring that provision of financial and technical support will be carried out to yield success in anti-illegal campaign in communities and cities.
For the remaining 15 barangays that have yet to organized their BADACs, Rimando said the DILG have already filed administrative cases against the village executives before the Office of the Ombudsman for dereliction of duty.
Rimando said the effectiveness of the BADACs will also be assessed by August.
Meanwhile, at the same roundtable event, Director Derrick Arnold Carreon, spokesman of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), noted that as of May 15, 2018, the agency has conducted a total of 99,485 anti-drug operations since July 1, 2016, resulting in the arrest of 143, 335 drug personalities.
“Noteworthy of those accomplishments was the arrest of government workers who were arrested during anti-drug operations in violation of the anti-drug law,” Carreon said.
He added that out of the 506 arrested government personnel, 48 were uniformed personnel; 217 were field officials; while 241 were government employees.
PDEA also seized 2,678.61 kilograms of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu valued at PHP14.34 billion.
He also said PDEA agents were able to dismantle a total of 180 dens and 12 clandestine laboratories. (Leilani Junio/PNA)
