4 more Cebu City barangays declared as drug-cleared

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu City now has 11 barangays declared as drug-cleared with the addition of four barangays.

The four additional barangays are Basak Pardo, Pamutan, Buot and San Antonio.

The Cebu City Office for Substance Abuse Prevention (COSAP) together with other government agencies determined the barangays eligible for drug clearing based on the guidelines set.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency’s Regional Oversight Committee made its final deliberation Friday en route to declaring four barangays as drug-cleared.

The oversight committee is chaired by PDEA-7 Regional Director Levi Ortiz along representatives from the regional offices of the Department of Health, Philippine National Police, and the Department of Interior and Local Government.

COSAP head Jonah John Rodriguez was happy to report that more barangays in Cebu City under Mayor Michael Rama have already been declared as drug-cleared.

The seven other barangays that have also been cleared earlier include Sudlon I and II, Sto. Niño, Sinsin, Sapangdaku, Parian and Toong.

Rodriguez considered this development as a big achievement since it is very difficult for highly-urbanized cities to have drug-cleared barangays.

Rodriguez hailed cooperation and hard work of the barangays and the help of PDEA and PNP to COSAP.

“Ang mga barangays supportive kaayo. Malipay gyud kaayo mi ana kay kinahanglan dili man i-cleared ang usa ka barangay nga drug-cleared kung ang iyahang watchlist dili nato ma all accounted for. For example, sa usa ka barangay duna sila’y 50 kabuok nga naa sa watchlist sa PDEA ug PNP kinahanglan kanang tanang 50 ma-undergo nato sa atoang Community Based Drug Rehabilitation Programs. If pusher ka, kinahanglan masulod nato sa Balay Silangan so these are the parameters unsa pag declare. It’s not that easy actually, unya of course naa tay mga documentary requirement ana so mao na siya’y proseso,” said Rodriguez. — Decemay P. Padilla, GMR (FREEMAN)