The Regional Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug Clearing meets to assess candidate barangays to be declared drug-cleared.*PDEA-6 photo
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Western Visayas continues to closely collaborate with concerned counterpart agencies to increase the number of drug-cleared barangays in the region.
Last week, 18 barangays in the region were declared drug-cleared.
This include villages from the cities of Bago, Kabankalan, Talisay, Victorias, and towns of Cauayan, EB Magalona, Hinigaran, and Murcia in Negros Occidental, and several others in Antique, Panay, and Iloilo, the PDEA said.
As of July, at least 348 of 601 barangays in Negros Occidental have been declared drug-free.
This is through proper implementation of the Barangay Drug Clearing Program (BDCP) manual of operations in declaring a drug-affected barangay as drug-cleared, and in the conduct of validation and verification to ensure that the drug-cleared status is maintained, acting PDEA-6 director Alex Tablate said.
The Regional Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug Clearing continue to screen and assess the barangay applicants.
On Friday, July 22, more than P7 million worth of drugs that were concealed in a milk box were recovered in a buy-bust operation in Silay City.
The two arrested high-value suspects claimed they were couriers of their contact at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa.*