GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- At least 903 barangays in Region 12 (Soccsksargen) are now considered cleared of illegal drug-related activities.
Kath Abad, spokesperson of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-12, said Monday the figure was based on the results of the assessment as of November by the Regional Oversight Committee on the Barangay Drug-Clearing Program.
Abad said the cleared barangays comprise 78 percent of the total 1,158 in the region’s four provinces and four cities.
“They were already officially declared as drug-cleared and undergoing further monitoring and periodic evaluation by the committee,” she said.
Abad said the 903 barangays passed the series of validations conducted by the committee, which is headed by the agency, on their compliance with the provisions of Dangerous Drugs Board Regulation No. 3 series of 2017, which strengthened the implementation of the barangay drug clearing program.
A drug-cleared barangay means that there are no more monitored illegal drugs, transshipment, and distribution as well as pushers and users in its communities, she said.
She said the barangay has also institutionalized its anti-drug programs through a functional anti-drug abuse council.
Data released by PDEA-12 showed that nine of the 26 barangays here were already declared as drug-cleared while the remaining 17 were listed as drug-affected.
In Sarangani, a total of 127 of its 141 barangays were already cleared while 14 others classified as “slightly affected.”
PDEA was still updating the data for the provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, and North Cotabato.
Abad said all 1,158 barangays in the region were subjected to validation by the agency since January but 22 percent of them, or a total of 255, did not pass the drug-clearing program’s standards.
Based on the agency’s records, some barangays reverted to drug-affected status after failing to maintain the program’s parameters.
“It is important for the cleared barangays to continue with their intensified anti-drug campaigns to ensure that they sustain their status,” she said. (PNA)
