By
Christopher Lloyd Caliwan
December 3, 2017
MANILA
-- The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) announced that 4,747 out of
42,036 barangays in the country have been cleared of drugs in line with the
government's ongoing anti-narcotics campaign.
This
was disclosed by PDEA Director General Aaron N. Aquino based on the monthly
update on "#RealNumbers".
"These
barangays have reached drug-cleared status after issuance of a certification by
members of the Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug-Clearing Program,"
Aquino said.
The
Oversight Committee, which is chaired by PDEA, is composed of provincial
representatives of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Department of Interior
and Local Government (DILG), Department of Health (DOH) and local government
units.
"Before
declaring that a barangay is free from illegal drug activities, the committee
must convene and validate the non-availability of drug supply in the area and
the absence of drug transit activity, clandestine drug laboratory and chemical
warehouse, marijuana cultivation site, drug den, drug pusher, and user,"
the PDEA chief emphasized.
The
declaration is pursuant to the parameters set forth by the Dangerous Drugs
Board (DDB) as provided in Section 8, DDB Board Regulation No. 3 Series of 2017,
otherwise known as “Strengthening the Implementation of the Barangay
Drug-Clearing Program”.
A
barangay is said to be drug-affected when there is a reported presence of drug
users, pushers, manufacturers, marijuana cultivators and other infrastructure related
to the illegal narcotics.
There
are three basic parameters in determining barangay drug-affectation: slightly
affected, moderately affected, and seriously affected.
Barangays
are considered slightly affected if there is a reported presence of user/s of
illegal drugs are drug personality in barangays; moderately affected if there
is a reported presence user/s and pusher/s of illegal drugs are drug
personality of a barangay; and seriously affected if there is drug laboratory,
den, dive or resort, marijuana plantation, are reported to exist in the
community.
On
June 2, 2017, Batanes has earned the distinction of being the country’s first
province to be proclaimed drug-free.
In
its monthly update on "#RealNumbers", Aquino said from June 2016 up
to November 27, 2017, 163 drug dens and nine clandestine shabu laboratories
were dismantled while different illegal drugs were seized worth PHP18.92
billion.
PDEA
said authorities also arrested 118,287 individuals involved in illegal drugs
from July 2016 to November 27, 2017.
Included
in the total figure are 435 government workers -- 185 of them elected
officials, 42 uniformed personnel, and 208 government employees.
Around
79,193 anti-illegal drugs operations were conducted by by joint law enforcement
agencies during the period.
As
of November 27, 2017, the consolidated report showed that 3,967 drug suspects
have died during operations while 86 were killed in action and 226 wounded from
the law enforcement agency during the anti-illegal drugs operations.
Aside
from PDEA, agencies involved in the anti-illegal drugs operations are the
Philippine National Police (PNP), Department of Interior and Local Government
(DILG), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and the Bureau of Customs (BOC)
among others.
The
joint law enforcement agencies rescued 589 minors during the anti-illegal drugs
operations from July 2016 to November 27, 2017.
According
to Department of Social and Welfare Development (DSWD), those rescued minors,
after court proceedings, will be turned over to the Bahay Pagasa centers of
local government units (LGUs) within eight hours of police custody, before
turning them over to the DSWD centers to undergo counselling to help reform
them back to society.
