46 Iloilo City barangays want ‘drug-cleared’ label

By Jennifer P. Rendon

The decrease in illegal drug activities buoyed the chances of several Iloilo City barangays to earn the coveted drug-cleared tag.

Alex Tablate, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 6 (PDEA-6) officer-in-charge, confirmed that 46 villages in Iloilo City have applied for drug clearing declaration.

On Jan. 17, 2020, the PDEA-Iloilo City Barangay Drug Clearing Program (BDCP) team conducted Barangay Drug Clearing Enhancement Training with the 46 villages so that they can be candidates for the 19th Regional Oversight Committee (ROC) deliberation scheduled next month.

Held at Barangay East Baluarte Covered Court in Molo district, the forum was attended by the captains of the 46 barangays and their secretaries and focal persons from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), City Health Office, and the PNP.

“They are just applying to be declared as drug-cleared. They still need to undergo validation and ROC deliberation,” Tablate said.

PDEA records showed that the ROC already declared 61 of the 180 barangays in Iloilo City as drug-cleared.

From previously being tagged as a “shabulized city,” Iloilo City has gone a long way to prove the label wrong.

Aside from decreased illegal drug activities, there was no big volume of illegal drugs seized in anti-narcotics operations.

Tablate also noted the neutralization of suspected drug personalities in the area after being arrested or killed in police operations.

Some, on the other hand, chose to leave the city while authorities were hot on their trails.

Based on police records as of December 2019, 271 of the 1,632 high-value target (HVT) drug personalities are in Iloilo City. The number includes 138 who were either arrested or killed during police operations. Forty persons cannot be located while 71 surrendered and are subject for monitoring.

Meanwhile, an HVT personality went abroad.