• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency has declared 3,776 of 4,051 villages in Western Visayas as drug-cleared, as of July 31.
In a report, the PDEA Regional Office VI said that the status of the remaining 275 barangays, which is equivalent 6.79 percent, is yet to be cleared.
The PDEA reports indicated that 93.21 percent of WV barangays are now drug cleared.
During recent deliberations, the Regional Oversight Committee Deliberation on Barangay Drug Clearing Program, composed of representatives of the PDEA, Philippine National Police, and the Departments of Interior and Local Government and Health, reported that nine more barangays, including seven in Negros Occidental and two in Iloilo, were added to the list of drug-cleared villages in the region.
The nine barangays that were declared as drug cleared included two in Talisay City, one each in the cities of Cadiz and Kabankalan, as well as the highly urbanized Bacolod City, and Hinigaran, all in Negros Occidental, and two in Oton, Iloilo.
PDEA VI also reported that 380 WV barangays retained their drug cleared status.
When it came to the retention of drug-cleared status, Negros Occidental logged six barangays, Capiz had 232, Iloilo logged 1055, while Aklan had 37.
The PDEA reports added that 46 barangays from Iloilo and Antique qualified to apply for the retention of their drug-free status, while 29 barangays from Capiz and Iloilo were issued Certificates of Inventory of Drug Personalities (CIDP) and directed to take appropriate action on reported drug activities.
On the other hand, Negros Occidental logged 81.36 percent of its 601 barangays as drug cleared, while only 34.43 percent of 61 barangays in highly urbanized Bacolod City are drug cleared, the PDEA reports further said.*