CAMP BGEN OSCAR M. FLORENDO, San Fernando City, La Union – Police Regional Office 1 reported Wednesday that 41 barangays and two municipalities (Balungao in Pangasinan and Dingras in Ilocos Norte) have been declared as drug-free.
Four other barangays were categorized as having no presence of active drug personalities.
The result was announced on Tuesday, Dec. 20, by the Regional Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug Clearing (ROCBDC) supervised by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency that convened at Camp Diego Silang, Carlatan, City of San Fernando, La Union, for the deliberation of 41 applicant barangays for a drug-clear status.
During the activity, a validation was conducted and the ROCBDC found out that 471 out of 474 barangays that were already declared drug-free have maintained their status as drug-free.
Three barangays are still subject for re-validation for the existence of drug personalities.
Based on the current PNP PDEA data, there are only 508 remaining barangays that need to be cleared of drugs out of 3,267 barangays region wide.
Brigadier General John Chua, PRO 1 Regional Director, has directed his chiefs of police and all line commanders 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 (LGUs), Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs),” Chua said.