Barangay 5 village chief Raymundo Salaveria of Bacolod City announces that his barangay has been declared drug-free by the Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug-Clearing Operations of Western Visayas. (Photo courtesy of Bacolod City PIO)
BACOLOD CITY -- The inter-agency Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug-Clearing Operations of Western Visayas has declared Barangay 5 in this city as drug-cleared after complying with the parameters set by the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB).
Village chief Raymundo Salaveria announced on Monday his barangay’s accomplishment in a press conference with Mayor Evelio Leonardia at the Bacolod City Government Center.
He said the declaration was approved after he presented the compliance of Barangay 5 with the City Anti-Drug Abuse Council (CADAC), during the committee’s meeting in Iloilo City last July 27.
In the third quarter of last year, Barangay 5 was among the three out of the 61 villages in Bacolod declared drug-cleared. The two other villages, Barangay 24 and 41, are also seeking a similar declaration this year.
Salaveria said his village is one of the smallest villages in Bacolod in terms of population, but 80 percent of its jurisdiction covers institutional and commercial area and only 20 percent is residential.
He added that it is easy for the barangay officials and the police to profile the residents of Barangay 5 because they know them and the village do not have illegal settlers.
A village is declared drug-cleared once it complies with the parameters provided in Section 8 of the DDB Regulation No. 3, Series of 2017, otherwise known as “Strengthening the Implementation of the Barangay Drug-Clearing Program”.
Barangays 5, 24 and 41 are the first three villages endorsed by the CADAC.
The local chief executive earlier said the declaration of the three villages as drug-cleared is important and hoped that other barangays in the city will also have a similar status.
The eight other villages in Bacolod eyed to become drug-cleared are barangays 4, 17, 18, Cabug, Granada, Alangilan, Vista Alegre and Felisa.
A barangay is declared drug-cleared based on the following parameters: non-availability of drug supply; absence of drug transit/transhipment activity; absence of clandestine drug laboratory; absence of clandestine drug warehouse; absence of clandestine chemical warehouse; absence of marijuana cultivation site; absence of drug den, dive, or resort; and absence of drug pusher; absence of drug user/dependent.
Other parameters are the absence of protector/coddler and financier; active involvement of barangay officials in anti-drug activities; active involvement of Sangguniang Kabataan to help maintain drug-liberated status of the barangay; existence of drug awareness, preventive education and information and other related programs; and existence of voluntary and compulsory drug treatment and rehabilitation processing desk. (PNA)
