ILOILO CITY – At least 78 percent of barangays in Western Visayas region have been cleared from illegal drug trade and illegal drug use, According to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Region 6 (PDEA-6)
PDEA-6 Spokesperson Ma. Graziella Tanaleon said that the high percentage has proven that the
campaign against illegal drugs of the Duterte administration has been sustained even as the region battles coronavirus disease (COVID-19) for the past six months.
As of September 2020, Antique province posted the highest number of drug-cleared barangays at 99.66 percent. It was followed by Aklan with 96.63 percent of barangays cleared.
There was also a 91.74-percent drug-clear rating for barangays in Iloilo province, 82.65 percent in Guimaras province, 68.28 percent in Capiz province, 46.11 percent in Iloilo City, 28.5 percent in Negros Occidental province, and 16.39 percent in Bacolod City.
PDEA-6’s third quarter report also indicated that all 4,051 barangays (villages) in Western Visayas has reactivated its Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Councils (BADACs).
Tanaleon pointed out this was in compliance of a recent memorandum of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG-6) to reactivate the BADACs.
This comes more than a week after PDEA Director General Wilkins Villanueva gave a stern warning against barangay chairpersons, who have failed to reactivate their respective BADACs.