50% of Cebu barangays submit drug list to DILG

CEBU, Philippines — At least 532 of the 1,066 barangays in Cebu Province have submitted a list of alleged drug personalities in their areas according to the data of the Department of Interior and Local Government(DILG).

In February, DILG Undersecretary for Barangay Affairs Martin Diño gave the barangays until yesterday to submit their list of drug personalities which includes pushers, users and alleged narco politicians.

In the whole region, the barangays recorded an average completion rate of 62%.

Lapu-Lapu City and Mandaue City are the only two areas where all barangays have submitted a list on time.

Bohol follows and has the highest completion rate of 97.48% among provinces. This means 1,081 of their 1,109 barangays have submitted their respective drug watchlist.

Cebu City is third with 46 out of 80 barangays. It is equivalent to 57.50% completion rate.

Cebu Province is in the fourth place while Siquijor has a rate of 41.79% with 56 of its 134 barangay units compliant.

Negros Oriental is at the bottom of the list with 14.72% completion rate of 82 out of 557 barangays have submitted their list.

According to DILG Provincial Director Jerome Gonzales, the role of their agency is only to monitor which villages have submitted a list. He continued that they will still receive reports even beyond March 21.

Meanwhile, Diño, in his pronouncement last month, said that administrative charges will be filed against barangay officials who failed to beat the deadline.

Cebu Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Office (CPADAO) Chief Carmen Ivy Remedios Durano-Meca said that consolidating data and making a watchlist is part of the duty of the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council (BADAC).

The list will then be verified by the members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and will be sent to a higher office like the CADAC/MADAC and then forward to DILG and PDEA.

She emphasized that the CPADAO holds no drug watchlist. But if their office will receive some, Meca said that the material will be forwarded to the rightful authorities or will be kept as file because the office cannot act on it.  —MBG (FREEMAN)