PDEA 6 Regional Director Alex Tablate (left) and Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez discuss the drug situation in Bacolod on Monday, July 4.*
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) hopes that under the Benitez administration more barangays in Bacolod City can be cleared of drugs, which will subsequently also reduce crimes in the city, PDEA 6 Regional Director Alex Tablate said Monday, July 4.
Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez discussed the shooting incidents in the city with him during their meeting at the Bacolod City Government Center Monday morning, Tablate said.
The mayor noted that around 60 percent of the crimes in Bacolod are drug-related, Tablate added.
There are currently only 13 out of 61 Bacolod City barangays that are drugs cleared.
Tablate said for the past few years the drug clearing operations in Bacolod City have been slow and they are hoping with the new administration it can be hastened.
The Balay Silangan reformation center for drug offenders at Lacson Extension in Barangay Singcang-Airport was inaugurated last year but for some reason has not been operational, Tablate said.
This is beyond PDEA’s control because they are dependent on the help of the local government, he said.
“We are expecting with the new administration this can be addressed,” he added.*