CEBU CITY – An additional 19 barangays in Central Visayas have been declared as drug-cleared in the recent deliberation of the Regional Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug Clearing (ROCBDC).

Twelve are in Bohol, four in Negros Oriental, and three in Cebu. Two barangays in Pamplona, Negros Oriental retained their drug-free status.

During the deliberation held last Monday, August 19, at the headquarters of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Central Visayas here, members of the committee scrutinized the documentary requirements submitted by the barangays and these were all found to be satisfactory.

The activity was presided over by the committee’s vice chairperson, Celerino S. Magto Jr., chief of the Local Government Monitoring and Evaluation Division of the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

The declaration of barangays as drug-cleared is under the Barangay Drug Clearing Program (BDCP).

Among the critical activities under BDCP are the continued capacity-building for the members of the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council (BADAC), conduct of house visits to persons who used drugs and other validated drug personalities in the barangay to encourage them to voluntary surrender, implementation of intervention programs for voluntary surrenderers, and sustained monitoring of illegal drug activities in the barangays.

Barangays declared as drug-cleared and drug-free undergo regular validation and verification processes to ensure that they have sustained their anti-illegal drug programs and new drug activities or relapse cases are immediately addressed, said PDEA-7 information officer Leia Alcantara.