After drug-free declaration: Three brgys may lose status

CEBU, Philippines - Three barangays under Cebu province that were among those declared as drug-free last April are now in danger of being stripped of their cleared status.

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-7 Director Yogi Ruiz, chairman of the oversight committee of the Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Council, said these barangays are among the 120 in Cebu Province initially declared as free from illegal drugs.

Of the 120 barangays, at least nine failed to maintain their drug-free status after its drug surrenderers tested positive for the use of illegal drugs.

PDEA sent notices to these nine barangays to solve their issue on drugs within 30 days, but three of these barangays have yet to report about their actions on the matter.

"We have no choice but to remove their drug-cleared status," Ruiz said last Wednesday, during the declaration of the drug-free barangays of Bogo City and San Remigio town at the Capitol Social Hall.

Ruiz said they are giving the three barangays until August 1 to settle and address their problem on their drug surrenderers who went back to using drugs.

If barangay officials fail to come up with a solution or necessary action to these problems, PDEA will file an administrative complaint against the officials of the said barangays.

"Once we get that directive (gikan sa chairman sa PDEA, we will) file cases against those barangays nga wala gyud maghimo og steps for the drug cleared status," Ruiz said.

“We have given them the chance to rectify, to conduct interventions. There are some barangays na naghimo gyud ug interventions, naa puy uban atong nakita karon nga morag gi baliwala nila so we have no choice but to remove their drug-cleared status and with that, among i-act, as a committee para mag-file mi og administrative case against those barangay officials,” he added. (FREEMAN)