10 Cebu City barangays rewarded for anti-drug efforts

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City government has recognized and given incentives to the 10 best performing barangays in the campaign against illegal drugs.

The barangays recognized include Sudlon 1, Sudlon 2, Sto. Niño, Sinsin, Sapangdaku, Parian, Toong, Basak-Pardo, Mabini, and Luz.

The city government, through the Office for Substance Abuse Prevention (COSAP), gave P100,000 in cash incentives to each of the barangays that have been identified based on the performance of their respective Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Councils (BADAC).

According to COSAP head Jonah John Rodriguez, the incentives were meant to recognize the barangays’ efforts.

“Ang pagpili aning best performing BADAC dili ni gitudlo-tudlo lang, but gi-deliberate gyud ni namo together with DILG (Department of Interior and Local Government), PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency), and COSAP,” said Rodriguez.

Among the parameters being considered in recognizing the barangays were the whether they were already declared as drug-cleared, which is the top consideration, and the conduct of activities in the barangay, audit result of surrenderers, and implementation of community-based drug rehabilitation program.

Most of the best performing BADACs have been declared as drug-cleared barangays, except for Basak-Pardo, Mabini and Luz.

Aside from the seven barangays, Rodriguez said there are four unnamed barangays that are also due for deliberation for drug-clearing.

Declaring a barangay as drug-cleared is very challenging, according to Rodriguez. In fact, he added that COSAP personnel “become teary-eyed every time a barangay is cleared.” — Decemay Padilla, JMD (FREEMAN)