GENERAL SANTOS CITY – The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Region 12 (Soccsksargen) is set to launch a series of revalidation activities to update the status of barangays that had been declared as drug-cleared.
Kath Abad, PDEA-12 spokesperson, said Tuesday the move aims to determine the status of the barangays in terms of illegal drugs and their compliance to the barangay drug clearing program's requirements.
“We need to revalidate these barangays again since most of them were cleared back in 2017 and 2018,” she said, adding that the agency is currently working with other members of the anti-drug regional oversight committee.
Abad said 932 out of 1,158 barangays in Region 12 have been so far declared as drug-cleared while 195 are considered as drug-affected and 22 as unaffected.
The figures are based on the regional oversight committee's assessment, headed by PDEA-12 and co-chaired by the Department of the Interior and Local Government, with the Department of Health and Philippine National Police as members.
Based on the provisions of Dangerous Drugs Board Regulation 3 issued in 2017, barangay councils are required to submit documents for revalidation three months after their declaration as drug-cleared.
Abad said the PDEA central office has also set additional parameters or requirements for the assessment and revalidation of the barangays.
Instead of just accounting for the drug surrenderers in their respective areas, she said barangays are now required to make sure that they graduate from the community-based rehabilitation program.
The other parameters for the assessment are the “non-availability of drug supply; absence of drug-dependent, pusher, user, absence of clandestine drug laboratory; active involvement of barangay officials in anti-drug activities; the existence of drug awareness, preventive education and information programs; and the existence of voluntary and compulsory drug treatment and rehabilitation processing desks.” (PNA)
