CEBU CITY – More barangays in Central Visayas were declared as drug-cleared during the latest deliberation of the Regional Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug Clearing (ROCBDC).

THE Regional Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug Clearing deliberates the application for drug-cleared status of 76 barangays and one municipality in Central Visayas on Thursday, April 11. (PDEA-7)
The deliberation was conducted through a blended face-to-face and online activity on April 11 to 12, said Leia Alcantara, spokesperson of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Central Visayas (PDEA-7).
Among those that earned a drug-cleared status were 36 barangays from Cebu province, 30 from Negros Oriental, four from Bohol, five from Mandaue City, and one from Cebu City.
The municipality of Tudela in Camotes Island, Cebu also became the ninth municipality in Region 7 to be conferred the status of a drug-cleared area, said Alcantara.
Emerson L. Margate, regional director of PDEA-7, presided over the deliberation.
The deliberation was attended by Celerino Magto Jr. of the Department of Interior and Local Government, Police Lt. Col. Franco Rudolf Z. Oriol and Police Major Rey delos Santos of the Police Regional Office-Central Visayas, and Dr. Jonathan Neil Erasmo of the Department of Health-Central Visayas. Representatives from the local government units attended online.
As of April 12, the other drug-cleared towns in Central Visayas are Poroc in Camotes Island, Enrique Villanueva in Negros Occidental, Santander, Cebu; San Francisco, Camotes Island; Madridejos, Cebu; Pilar, Camotes Island; Basay, Negros Oriental, and San Remigio, Cebu.
A total of 1,744 barangays in the region have been declared drug-cleared and 114 were declared as drug-free.
Declaring local government units as drug-cleared is part of the Barangay Drug Clearing Program.