By Chito Chavez The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said that more or less 5,000 barangays all over the country have been declared drug-free, in its monthly update on "#RealNumbers" PDEA said that as of December 27, 5,072 of the 42,036 barangays in the country had been cleared of drugs. "These barangays have reached drug-cleared status after issuance of a certification by members of the Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug-Clearing Program,” said PDEA Director Gen. Aaron Aquino. MANILA BULLETIN The oversight committee, which PDEA heads, is composed of representatives of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Health (DOH) and local government units (LGUs). "Before declaring that a barangay is free from illegal drug activities, the committee must convene and validate the non-availability of drug supply in the area and the absence of drug transit activity, clandestine drug laboratory and chemical warehouse, marijuana cultivation site, drug den, drug pusher, and user," said Aquino. The declaration was based on the parameters set by the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) as provided in Section 8 of DDB Board Regulation No. 3 Series of 2017, otherwise known as “Strengthening the Implementation of the Barangay Drug-Clearing Program”. A barangay is said to be drug-affected when there is a reported presence of drug users, pushers, manufacturers, marijuana cultivators and other infrastructure related to the illegal narcotics. There are three basic parameters in determining barangay drug-affectation: slightly affected, moderately affected, and seriously affected. Barangays are considered slightly affected if there is a reported presence of drug user/s; moderately affected if there is a reported presence of drug pusher/s and/or user/s; and seriously affected if there is a reported presence of any of the following: clandestine drug laboratory, warehouse, marijuana plantation and drug den/tiangge, drug trafficking or smuggling activities, and drug personalities. Last June, Batanes earned the distinction of being the country’s first province to be declared drug-free. On Dec. 4, Tacloban City was also declared drug-free after having met the DDB requirements. In its monthly update called "#RealNumbers", Aquino said from July 2016 up to Dec. 27 this year, 170 drug dens and nine clandestine shabu laboratories were dismantled while different kinds of illegal drugs amounting to PHP19.11 billion were seized. Aquino said PDEA also arrested 119,023 individuals involved in illegal drugs from July 2016 to December 27 which included 444 government workers -- 188 of them elected officials, 44 uniformed personnel, and 212 government employees. About 80,683 anti-illegal drug operations were conducted by joint law enforcement agencies during the period. As of Dec. 27, the consolidated report showed that 3,968 drug suspects died, 86 were killed and 226 were wounded in anti-drug operations. Agencies helping the PDEA in the anti-illegal drug operations are the PNP, DILG, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and the Bureau of Customs (BOC), among others. The joint law enforcement agencies rescued 589 minors during the anti-illegal drug operations from July 2016 to Dec. 27 this year. In its report, the Department of Social and Welfare Development (DSWD) said the rescued minors, after court proceedings, will be turned over to the Bahay Pagasa centers of LGUs within eight hours of police custody, before turning them over to the DSWD centers to undergo counseling to aid in reforming them back to society. Since they are minors, the DSWD said they would not be put behind bars.