RAZALAN (Tara Yap)
ILOILO CITY – The Iloilo Provincial Police Office (IPPO) is beefing up monitoring of barangay officials allegedly involved in the illegal drugs trade in the province after eight of them were arrested this year.
“This year alone, we have arrested three barangay captains, four barangay kagawads, and a Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) chairperson,” said Police Col. Bayani Razalan.
The most recent arrested was a barangay kagawad in Lambunao town on June 6. Recovered from the official of Barangay Pajo was 30 grams of suspected shabu valued at more than P200,000.
Razalan said he is deeply saddened by the number of barangay officials involved in the illegal drugs trade in the province as they are part of the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council (BADAC).
“These barangay officials are supposed to be our frontline against illegal drugs,” Razalan said.
But Razalan said that the figure is less than one percent of the 1,721 barangays in 42 towns and a component city in Iloilo.
Razalan said they are probing allegations of a warehouse where arrested barangay officials obtain their shabu supply.