PDEA: 92% of Metro Manila barangays drug-affected

MANILA, Philippines - More than 8,000 barangays in the country are plagued with the drug menace, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said. 

 

Based on its consolidated data gathered from operational reports and other law enforcement agencies, the PDEA said around 20.51 percent or 8,629 villages out of the 42,065 barangays nationwide have drug-related cases.

 

PDEA director general Arturo Cacdac Jr. said a barangay is said to be drug-affected when there is a drug user, pusher, manufacturer, marijuana cultivator or other drug personality "regardless of number in the area."

 

The three basic degrees how a barangay is affected by illegal drug activities --slightly affected, moderately affected, and seriously affected.  

 

Barangays are considered slightly affected if there are identified drug users in the community but no known drug pushers or traffickers are operating in the area while moderately affected if at least a suspected drug pusher or trafficker is operating in the barangay.

 

A barangay is seriously affected if at least a drug laboratory, den, dive or resort is suspected to exist in the community.

 

Metro Manila has the highest rate of being drug-affected with 92.10 percent of the region’s barangays affected, followed by Region 4A (Southern Tagalog) at 33.78 percent.

 

 "Methamphetamine hydrochloride, or shabu, and marijuana remain the most abused illegal drugs in the Philippines. Based on 2014 arrest data, 88.78 percent involved the seizure of shabu, while 8.86 percent covered the confiscation of marijuana. Dangerous drugs such as cocaine, ecstasy, ephedrine, 'fly-high' and others constitute the 2.36 percent of the drug-related arrests," Cacdac said.

 

Based on the results of anti-drug operations in 2014, the street value of shabu ranges from P2,000 to P10,000 per gram, while marijuana is pegged at P18 to P300 per gram, depending on the area of transaction and quality of drug sold.