Almost half of Iloilo City barangays still affected by illegal drugs

Nearly half of the 180 barangays in Iloilo City are still affected by Illegal drugs, according to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

As of August 31 this year, 52.78 percent or 95 of the city’s total number of villages have been declared drug-cleared.

According to PDEA, drug-cleared barangays are those that are previously classified as drug-affected and underwent the government’s barangay drug clearing program.

“They have to be then declared as drug-cleared by the Regional Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug Clearing (ROCBDC),” the agency said.

In Iloilo province, 99.59 percent of the 1,721 barangays attained the drug-cleared status.

The province targets to clear all its barangays of illegal drugs within this year.

Aklan (327), Antique (590), and Guimaras (98) have already obtained their 100 percent drug-cleared barangay status.

Capiz is 93.45 percent cleared of illegal drugs, followed by Negros Occidental (81.31 percent) and Bacolod City (34.43 percent).

Overall, 93.21 percent of the 4,051 barangays in the Western Visayas region are considered drug-cleared.IMT