(Tacloban City Information Office)
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TACLOBAN CITY — The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Eastern Visayas is intensifying its campaign against illegal drugs as it works to address more than 100 barangays in the region that have yet to be classified as either drug-cleared or drug-free.
PDEA Eastern Visayas regional director Levi Ortiz said the agency continues to pursue illegal drug personalities and activities in barangays that remain outside the region’s drug-cleared or drug-free classifications.
Of the region’s 4,365 barangays, 2,835 have been declared drug-cleared, while 1,427 have been classified as drug-free, according to PDEA data.
Under the government’s Barangay Drug Clearing Program, a drug-cleared barangay is one that was previously classified as drug-affected but subsequently underwent the required clearing process and was declared cleared by the Regional Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug Clearing.
A drug-free barangay, on the other hand, is one classified as drug-unaffected and subsequently vetted and confirmed by the committee. This generally means there has been no validated or recorded presence of illegal drug personalities or activities in the barangay.
The distinction is significant because a drug-cleared barangay is one that has addressed a previously identified drug problem, while a drug-free barangay had not been classified as drug-affected in the first place.
Despite the high number of barangays already classified under either category, Ortiz acknowledged that illegal drug activity remains a concern in parts of Eastern Visayas.
He said there are two barangays in the region considered “hot spots” because of the high intensity of illegal drug activities. Ortiz declined to identify the barangays.
“Our mandate is to go against barangays which still have presence of illegal drugs,” Ortiz said in an interview.
PDEA has continued its law enforcement operations alongside the barangay drug-clearing program. Since the beginning of the year, the agency has conducted 104 anti-illegal drug operations, resulting in the arrest of 177 individuals, Ortiz said.
The operations also led to the seizure of shabu and marijuana with a combined estimated market value of more than P65 million.
Ortiz said none of the operations conducted by the regional office during the period resulted in the death of any of the suspects.
“No, no, walang patayan,” he said.
Of the 2,835 drug-cleared barangays in Eastern Visayas, 999 are in Leyte, 463 in Southern Leyte, 405 in Eastern Samar, 375 in Samar, 277 in Northern Samar, 127 in Tacloban City, 108 in Biliran, and 81 in Ormoc City.
The figures underscore the scale of the government’s barangay-level drug-clearing campaign in a region where thousands of communities have already undergone classification and validation.
However, Ortiz declined to give a specific timeline for when Eastern Visayas could have all its barangays classified as drug-cleared or drug-free.
He said PDEA will continue to focus on areas where illegal drugs, drug personalities, or drug-related activities are still being detected.
The government’s barangay drug-clearing program has been a key component of the country’s continuing anti-illegal drug campaign, shifting part of the focus from national-level enforcement operations to identifying, monitoring, and addressing drug-related concerns at the community level.
The campaign has also remained politically and socially sensitive because of the controversies surrounding the Duterte administration’s war on drugs, which drew widespread criticism over alleged extrajudicial killings and prompted international scrutiny.
JOEY A. GABIETA
