741 Barangays sa Cordillera idineklarang ‘drug free’ ng PDEA

February 21, 2021 Metro BLISTT

BAGUIO CITY— Iniulat ng Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency- Cordillera na may 741 mula sa kabuuang 1,177 barangays mula sa anim na lalawigan at siyudad ang idineklarang classified as ‘drug cleared’.
Ang nasabing drug cleared barangays sa rehiyon ay naisagawa sa loob ng limang tao simula noong 2017. Nabatid kay PDEA Regional Director Gil Castro, noong 2017, may 698 barangay ang na-cleared sa illegal drugs; 20 noong 2018; 17 noong 2019; 1 noong 2020 at 4 as of January 2021.
Ayon kay Castro, ang lalawigan ng Abra ay may 180 cleared barangays sa kasalukuyan, 96 sa Apayao, 110 sa Baguio City, 107 sa Benguet, 80 sa Ifugao, 103 sa Kalinga at 65 sa Mountain Province, na may kabuuang equivalent na 62.95 percent drug free barangays sa buong rehiyon.
Aniya, sa kasalukuyan ay may 361 still unaffected barangays, samantalang 75 barangay pa ang nananatiling apektado ng iligal na droga sa rehiyon.
“The drug law enforcers from different agencies of government as well as the local government units including other sectors are continuously holding advocacy campaigns and they are revitalizing the Barangay Anti Drug Abuse Council (BADACs) to drum up the activities related to anti illegal drugs.”
“The region’s primary problem is cultivation of marijuana, reason for the continues eradication operations on the mountains, particularly those where plantation sites were found in the past. We want to uproot and destroy the marijuana while they are still young small and and have not borne seeds which may fall off when uprooted, and again grow, ” wika pa ni Castro.
Zaldy Comanda/ABN