41 MORE BRGYS, 2 MUNICIPALITIES IN REGION 1 NOW DRUG CLEARED

December 23, 2022 Provincial

CAMP BGEN.OSCAR FLORENDO, La Union

The Regional Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug Clearing (ROCBDC) has declared 41 more villages in Region 1 as drug cleared. The declaration brings to 508 the total number of drug cleared barangays in Region 1 which is composed of Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, La Union and Pangasinan.
During the ROCBDC deliberation on December 20, the 41 applicant barangays and the municipalities of Balungao, Pangasinan and Dingras, Ilocos Norte were conferred with the Drug-Cleared status, while four other applicant barangays were categorized as Barangays with no presence of active drug personalities.

During the deliberation, the ROCBDC was able to validate that 471 out of the 474 barangays earlier declared Drug-Free have maintained their Drug Cleared Status while three barangays are subject for re-validation. The declaration of the three barangays were put on hold with an intelligence report provided by the Police Regional Office-1 Intelligence Division of the existence of drug
personalities.

Currently, the Philippine National Police-Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PNPPDEA) Database shows that 15.55 percent or 508 out of the 3,267 barangays in the region remained Drug-Affected. Brig.Gen.John Chua, regional director of the Police Regional Office-1, has directed Chiefs of Police and all line commanders in the region to focus on the clearing of the remaining affected barangays through the Barangay Anti- Drug Abuse Council.

“We have to constantly coordinate with our counterparts with the PDEA and the Local Government Units (LGU)s, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO)s, Civil Society Organizations (CSO)s and Faith Based Organizations (FBO)s,” Chua said. He also shared an earlier statement of Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benjamin Abalos who said “we look forward to your cooperation in our desire to eliminate illegal drugs in the country.

Zaldy Comanda/ABN