CAMP TOLENTINO, Bataan — More than half of the total number of barangays in Bataan province have already been cleared from illegal drugs.
This was revealed by Bataan PNP Provincial Director, Police Colonel Villamor Tuliao during the Monday news briefing here where the Bataan Provincial Police Office (BPPO) is based.
Col. Tuliao said at least 147 out of the 237 barangays (villages) in Bataan have been declared drug-cleared by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) as of October 7, 2019.“Aside from that, 13 additional barangays have already passed their resolutions on process and another additional 20 folders from various barangays are now for review,” Tuliao told Bataan newsmen.
PD Tuliao added that their target is to make all 237 barangays of Bataan be declared as drug-cleared.
Since February of this year, a total of 21,974 barangays have yet to be cleared of illegal drugs but the Philippine National Police (PNP), together with the PDEA, stressed that the government’s campaign against illegal drugs is continuous.
The declaration of a drug cleared barangay goes thru various processes or procedures with the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD) that 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 pushers and users.
Tuliao said the activation of Barangay Drug Abuse Councils, or BADACs, is very crucial in the success of the implementation of the campaign.
In partnership with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), PDEA conducted training-orientation to local government units (LGUs) all over the country on measures and indicators on declaring drug-cleared barangays.
In a news report published by the Philippine News Agency, the PNP national headquarters reported that the authorities dismantled a total of 301 drug dens and shabu laboratories in the country from July 2016 to January 2019.
Out of this number, 287 are drug dens and 14 are clandestine shabu laboratories while various types of illegal drugs worth PHP25.94 billion were seized.
This amount includes 3,401.17 kilograms of shabu with an estimated street value of PHP19.14 billion.
Based on Real Numbers data, authorities also arrested 170,689 individuals involved in illegal drugs during the said period.
Included in the total figure are 627 government workers — 263 of them elected officials, 69 uniformed personnel, and 295 government employees.
Around 119,841 anti-illegal drug operations were conducted by joint law enforcement agencies during the period.
As of January 2019, the consolidated report showed that 5,176 drug suspects have died during anti-illegal drug operations.
From July 2016 to January 2019, authorities also arrested 2,016 minors. This can be broken down into 1,089 pushers; 533 possessors; 271 users; 105 visitors of drug den; six drug den maintainers; nine drug den employees and three cultivators.
According to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the rescued minors, after court proceedings, will be turned over to the Bahay Pag-asa centers (Bahay Pagbabago here in Bataan) of LGUs within eight hours of police custody, before turning them over to the DSWD.
Since they are minors, the DSWD said they would not be put behind bars together with hardened criminals.