None of Bohol’s 1,109 barangays have officially been declared drug-free by the Bohol Provincial Police Office (BPPO) almost six months after President Rodrigo Duterte started his war on narcotics trade.

According to BPPO spokesman Senior Insp. Vincent Dumaguing, both Camp Dagohoy and the Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Council (PADAC) continue to monitor drug activities in each barangay.

Dumaguing said that the state of being drug-free will officially be determined by the PADAC.

So far, some barangays are still undergoing processing from the PADAC to verify claims of having eradicated drug activities in the areas.

The police official said that several barangay councils have already declared their villages drug-free but these claims still need certification from Municipal Anti-Drug Abuse Councils in their respective towns.

A barangay will also need confirmation from the municipality’s chief of police to officially be declared free from illegal drug activities, Dumaguing added.

For his part, Chief Supt. Noli Taliño, director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas, ordered station chiefs to declare three to four barangays in their town drug-free before the year ends.

However, Dumaguing noted that a deadline extension would likely be implemented should chiefs of police be unable to clear villages of narcotics trade.

In his bloody war on drugs, Duterte had recently announced during his trip to Singapore that the campaign will last until the end of his term.

This is contrary to his pre-election claims of eradicating criminality within the first six months of his presidency and to his declaration of a six-month extension of his anti-drug campaign which he made in September. (Rey Tutas)