Four more Iloilo towns to get drug-cleared tag

By: Jennifer P. Rendon 

Four more municipalities in Iloilo province will soon be declared drug-cleared.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 6 (PDEA-6) said the Regional Oversight Committee (ROC) is about to wrap up its deliberation on the application of the towns of Bingawan, Concepcion, Dingle, and Pavia.

“We hope to declare them as drug-cleared towns before the year ends,” PDEA-6 regional director Alex Tablate said.

The ROC earlier declared three towns and one component city, all in Iloilo province.

Miagao became the first municipality in Western Visayas to be officially declared drug-cleared on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019.

PDEA-6 also declared Igbaras, Passi City, and Guimbal cleared of the drug problem.

Tablate said no town from other provinces were declared, since most of them have yet to comply with the establishment of Balay Silangan or has entered into a memorandum of agreement with towns that have their own center.

Balay Silangan is a facility under the national drug reformation program that offers temporary refuge with the objective of reforming drug offenders into self-sufficient and law-abiding members of society.

The groundwork for Balay Silangan is stipulated in Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) Regulation Number 2, Series of 2018.

The local government unit (LGU) has to build their own Balay Silangan facility but Tablate clarified that there is no need for the building of a new structure.

Tablate said it can be an existing facility converted into a center.

“The LGU should also be in charge of the set-up and personnel that shall man the center,” he said.

But Tablate said they could help in providing lectures and trainings.

Aside from Balay Silangan, a town is considered drug-cleared if all its barangays have been cleared of drug pushers and dependents.

The committee is composed of PDEA, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Department of Health (DOH).

Meanwhile, general interventions, like continuing education and health awareness, and psychological/spiritual/physical activities such as counseling, moral recovery, values formation, personal and life skills, among others, are provided under the program. Livelihood and skills training programs which include soap making, massage training, basic carpentry, welding, haircutting, etc., are likewise provided to give drug reformers employment opportunities.

For towns which have not yet built its own Balay Silangan, they need to have a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the nearest towns which has its own Balay Silangan to cater to their drug surrenderers.

“But in the long run, we will be requiring them to establish their own Balay Silangan because that is under the DDB regulation,” Tablate said.

Tablate said there are municipalities that have all their barangays declared drug-cleared but have not yet built a Balay Silangan or enter into a MOA with an LGU which has its own.

Aside from all barangays being declared drug cleared, a town or component city has to complete its post operation requirements, has a continuous anti-drugs advocacy campaign, and continue the reporting of drug personalities that have been addressed by PNP and PDEA.

Also, declaration of a barangay as drug cleared is not an assurance that no anti-illegal drugs operations will be made.

“We still need to conduct anti-drugs operations to maintain status of an area,” Tablate said.

Earlier, the ROC of the Barangay Drug Clearing Program (BDCP) has declared 217 barangays as free from drug affectation during the 17th ROC deliberation on Oct. 29, 2019.

The latest number has brought the total drug-cleared, or those dubbed as “unaffected,” villages in Region 6 to 69.34 percent.

Once a barangay is considered certified drug-cleared, a certificate signed by the chief of police, mayor, and PDEA regional director is issued.

Alex Tablate, PDEA-6 regional director, noted that the certification of more than half of the 4,051 Western Visayas barangays only showed the efficiency of the drug-clearing operations.

But Tablate said the most critical part is actually not by the “declaration” itself.

“Rather, it’s but how these barangays should execute and do its part in maintaining said status, thus preventing the same from reverting back to being “affected”, he said.

For a barangay to be finally declared as “drug-cleared” or officially “unaffected”, they have complied with all the requirements and parameters set forth under DDB Regulation No. 3, Series of 2017 on Strengthening the Implementation of BDCP.

These requirements include:

1. Non-availability of drug supply
2. Absence of drug den, pusher, user
3. Absence of clandestine drug laboratory
4. Active involvement of barangay officials in anti-drug activities
5. Existence of drug awareness, preventive education and information
6. Existence of voluntary and compulsory drug treatment and rehabilitation processing desk

These requirements are mandated by Dangerous Drugs Board Regulation No. 3 series of 2017.