None of Bohol’s 1,109 barangays has been declared drug-cleared by a multi-agency oversight committee led by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

PDEA Bohol agent Ma. Chona Engam told DYRD Balita that villages need to meet 14 parameters set by the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) before they are considered cleared of illegal drug activities.

So far, Bohol barangays have not yet completely fulfilled these requirements.

“They need to comply with these parameters—the nonavailability of drug supply, absence of drug transit, absence of clandestine laboratory and warehouses,” said the PDEA official.

The drug-cleared status also validates that the village is cleared of marijuana cultivation sites, illegal drug dens, dives, or resorts; and verifies the absence of illegal drug pushers, users, dependents, protectors, coddlers and financiers.

According to Egam, villages need to be cleared at the barangay and municipal levels before the oversight committee reassesses the area’s drug presence status.

The oversight committee includes the PDEA, the Department of Interior and Local Government, Philippine National Police, Department of Health and Local Government Units.

“They can have their barangays certified as drug-cleared, then the barangay captain will make the issuance and it will be endorsed to the mayor,” Egam said in Cebuano and English.

“This will then be relayed to the oversight committee,” she added. “They will pass all the requirements they used to certify at the lower levels.”

Based on the DDB Regulation No.2 series of 2017, drug-free barangays are defined as those previously affected by narcotics activities which were then eradicated through drug clearing operations.

As of July 4, 288 barangays have been deemed cleared of illegal drug activities by their respective Municipal Anti-Drug Abuse Councils based on a data released by the Bohol Provincial Police Office.

Meanwhile, only 17 villages were never affected by illegal drug activities during the same period.

Barangays unaffected by illegal drugs include Quinapon-an in Antequera; Buenasuerte, Tanod, and Almaria in Anda; Cagongcagong in Alicia; Villa Aurora in Dagohoy; Taytay in Duero; Buenavista in Loboc; Togbongon, Catmon and Sampong in Garcia Hernandez; Cabadug, Canmanoc, Quinobcoban and Tiwi in Loon, Ubay Island in Tubigon; and Bayog in President Carlos P Garcia. (Rey Tutas)