All 23 barangays of E. B. Magalona in Negros Occidental are now drug-cleared, Mayor Marvin Malacon announced on Thursday, August 31.
The last two villages to be cleared of drugs by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency- Regional Office 6 (PDEA-6) were Poblacion 3 and Alicante, PMaj. Kenneth Jay Gratones, EB Magalona police chief, said.
“We highly commend the PNP, PDEA, municipal and barangay officials, MADAC (Municipal Anti-Drug Abuse Council), DILG, BADAC (Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council), Sangguniang Kabataan councils, Municipal Health Office, MSWDO, other agencies and sectors, and the Municipality of E. B. Magalona as a whole for closely working together to make all our 23 barangays cleared from illegal drugs, thereby making our community a safer place to live, work, and do business in”, Malacon said in a press release.
The announcement was made by PDEA-6 during the online deliberation on the Barangay Drug-Clearing Program by the 49th Regional Oversight Committee (ROC) Thursday morning.
Joining the online meeting were Malacon, DILG E. B. Magalona head Pierra Fuentespina- Lamayo, the Poblacion 3 Council headed by Punong Barangay Rolando Banasig, and Alicante Council headed by Punong Barangay Leah Ruiz.
In June the PDEA had declared Poblacion 1 and Barangay Consing as drug-cleared, making 21 of the 23 barangays as drug-cleared then.
“Our tasks in the illegal drug campaign are not yet finished. In fact, it is just the beginning of a campaign to sustain the gain so painstakingly pursued,” Gratones said.*