BONTOC, Mountain Province – Five barangays in this town are now drug-free according to the Regional Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug Clearing Program.
These barangays are Tocucan, Gonogon, Guina-ang, Maligcong, and Bayyo.
The oversight committee, chaired by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, is composed of representatives of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Philippine National Police, Department of Health, and local government units.
Mayor Franklin Odsey turned over the certificate of drug-free barangay to officials of Tocucan during the meeting of the Municipal Advisory Council and Municipal Anti-Drug Abuse Council last July 14. Officials from the other barangays were not present to receive their certificates.
Odsey commended the barangay officials and residents of the five newly-declared drug-cleared barangays for their individual and collective efforts in curbing the proliferation of illegal drugs in their areas.
He said the municipal government has been aggressively implementing the government’s anti-drug campaign since it was launched at the start of President Rodrigo Duterte’s term in 2016.
The declaration of a barangay as drug-free is pursuant to the parameters set forth by the Dangerous Drugs Board as provided in Section 8, DDB Board Regulation 3 s. 2017 or “Strengthening the implementation of the barangay drug-clearing program.”
The resolution states before a barangay is declared drug-free, the Regional Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug Clearing Program must convene and validate that supply is no longer available in the area; absence of drug den, pusher and/or user; absence of clandestine drug laboratory; active involvement of barangay officials in anti-drug activities; existence of drug awareness, preventive education and information; and existence of voluntary and compulsory drug treatment and rehabilitation processing desk.
Part of the meeting is the finalization of the Bontoc Emergency Response to Addiction batch 3, the community-based intervention program of the LGU.
Other concerns that were addressed during the meeting are the continuous monitoring and supervision of surrenderers, provision of training and livelihood projects to surrenderers, purchase of body cameras and breath analyzers, and conduct of outreach program to barangays in Bontoc. – Alpine L. Killa
April 25, 2024
