Davide tells police, coordinate before tagging a brgy ‘drug-free’

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu Province Governor Hilario Davide III wants the police to coordinate with the provincial government before declaring a barangay drug-free.

This, after the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) "prematurely" declared 81 barangays in Cebu province drug free, even without validation and approval from the provincial government.

Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Office (CPADAO) head Carmen Remedios Durano-Meca said that only the governor has the sole power to declare a local government unit is totally drug-free, not the provincial police.

Aside from CPADAO, the office of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) does not even know the declaration.

Meca revealed that they have received a lot of negative reactions after CPPO's "premature" declaration.

Yesterday, Davide and representatives from PDEA and CPPO have agreed that all the agencies should work and coordinate with each other when it comes to the declaration of barangays being drug-free.

Davide said that his office and the CPADAO will soon meet so that they can validate CPPO's report about the declaration of 81 drug-free barangays.

He said that CPADAO and the police have already convened a team that will work on the validation.  (FREEMAN)