Albuera, Leyte Mayor Sixto Dela Victoria in this July 22, 2021 photo. (Photo courtesy of Albuera local government)
TACLOBAN CITY – Seven years after the illegal drugs trade placed Albuera, Leyte in a bad light, the town is still in the process of removing the stigma of illicit drugs, Mayor Sixto Dela Victoria said on Tuesday.
Dela Victoria said three of 16 villages are still affected by the illegal drugs trade, but the problem has been contained by the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
“We used to be a killing field and illegal drugs trade was rampant, but the problem has been minimized because of the commitment of local government officials,” the mayor told reporters on Tuesday.
The dismantling of several drug dens during the term of then-President Rodrigo Duterte was a big factor in the declaration of some villages as drug-free, according to Dela Victoria.
The mayor said their town has also been active in the conduct of a community-based drug rehabilitation program using the general intervention on health and well-being approach for drug users.
The three drug-affected villages are Benolho, Poblacion and Balugo.
Benolho is the village of Espinosa drug group led by Kerwin Espinosa, the son of Rolando, the mayor of Albuera town in 2016.
It can be recalled that then-mayor Espinosa, a drug suspect, was shot dead inside the sub-provincial jail in Baybay City in 2016. Kerwin, now detained, is accused of heading the biggest illegal drug operations in Eastern Visayas.
In 2022, the PDEA arrested high-value target drug personalities, including a local government employee and a student.
Last month, the alleged bagman of Kerwin was killed in a drug bust in Ormoc City where operatives also seized suspected shabu with an estimated street value of PHP10.2 million. (PNA)
