Negros Occ. police eye one drug-cleared village per month

By Glazyl Y. Masculino

BACOLOD City – Police Colonel Romeo Baleros, director of Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (Nocppo) has ordered all police chiefs to double their efforts in the government’s war against illegal drugs.

Baleros, in a press briefing on Tuesday at Nocppo headquarters here, directed all police chiefs to have at least one drug-cleared village per month in their respective areas of jurisdiction.

He instructed them to closely coordinate with their respective anti-drug abuse councils to identify which barangay should be assessed for drug clearing.

At present, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-6 has cleared 151 barangays from influence of illegal drugs in the province, the provincial police director said, adding that almost 500 barangays are still up for assessment to be drug-cleared.

He said they have difficulty to clear drug-affected barangays because of slum areas, where most identified drug pushers and users are living, citing in the cities of Silay, Talisay, San Carlos, and Kabankalan, among other local government units.

“We cannot compare the upland villages and those living in coastal areas to the urban area,” he said.

He said it is important to maximize their efforts to attain their target.

Although there is no resurgence of illegal drugs in the 151 drug-free villages, he said they will continue to conduct intense monitoring to check if these barangays maintained their status.

“It doesn’t mean we will stop our anti-illegal drug operations, we will still continue for as long as we have identified or sighted drug pushers and users in your villages,” he stressed.