DRUG-CLEARED. Members of the Regional Oversight Committee approve the application of 111 barangays in Western Visayas to be declared as drug-cleared during the 19th deliberation held in Iloilo City on Thursday (Feb. 27, 2020). PDEA spokesperson Shey Tanaleon in an interview said the Balay Silangan plays a significant role during the declaration as some of those that applied were moderately affected barangays. (PNA photo by PDEA 6)
ILOILO CITY – A total of 111 barangays out of 263 barangay-applicants from Western Visayas hurdled the 19th Regional Oversight Committee deliberation held in this city on Thursday.
Shey Tanaleon, spokesperson for the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Western Visayas, in an interview said the applicant-barangays came from the region’s 43 local government units.
Tanaleon said 38 villages from Iloilo province, 36 from Negros Occidental, 16 from lloilo City, eight from Aklan, six from Capiz, three from Guimaras and two each from Bacolod City and Antique got the approval of the oversight committee composed of the Department of Health (DOH), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Philippine National Police (PNP) and the PDEA to be declared as cleared from drugs.
She said that most of what they deliberated in the afternoon were moderately affected barangays.
“When we say moderately affected barangays, they have a presence of pushers in the area. Some have passed with the help of established Balay Silangan facilities. Our pushers and users undergo a community-based rehabilitation program,” she said.
Western Visayas has already seven Balay Silangan Reformation Centers. These are in Tapaz, Capiz; Passi City, Miagao, Igbaras, Guimbal, Dingle, Bingawan and Concepcion towns, all in Iloilo province.
Currently, the centers in Tapaz and Passi City are catering to pusher-surrenderers.
They are still working out with the local government units the operationalization of the other Balay Silangan.
Balay Silangan is a national drug reformation program that offers temporary refuge to drug offenders, particularly pusher-surrenderers.
“The establishment of Balay Silangan facilities in the municipalities is very significant when it comes to our moderately affected barangays because they cater to pusher-surrenderers,” she said.
Prior to the deliberation, the region’s 3,018 out of the 4,051 barangays in Western Visayas have been declared as cleared of illegal drugs in the past oversight deliberations.
The spokesperson said that the coverage of drug-cleared areas will increase with the addition of these 111 villages. (PNA)
