PDEA to charge brgy. chiefs involved in illegal drugs

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 7 will file drug charges against barangay officials allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade some of whom may have won in the recently-concluded barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections.

PDEA 7 Director III Emerson Margate said they will request the Commission on Elections for the names of those who won in the elections to check if the 20 barangay officials who were in the second batch of drug list of the agency were included.

“Those who won and they are still involved in illegal drugs will face charges or a case buildup for an anti-drugs operations,” Margate said.

The PDEA 7 regional director said they received reports about barangay officials involved in illegal drugs but have yet to conduct validation on this.

“There are barangay officials who recently won the elections and they’re not off the hook despite winning it because we don’t care if they won. If you’re involved in drugs then you’re involved no matter if you won or not,” Margate said.

He said that the validation is very taxing but assured that they are looking into every single reports to validate it.

Meanwhile, the Cebu Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Office (CPADAO) will conduct training for newly elected barangay and SK officials in line with its Barangay Drug Clearing Program.

Carmen Remedios “Ivy” Durano-Meca, CPADAO executive director, told SunStar Cebu that the training aims to teach the newly election barangay and SK officials about their roles in the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council.

Meca said they are still coordinating with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) on when they would start the training.

TheCebu Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Office (CPADAO) will conduct training for newly elected barangay and SK officials in line with its Barangay Drug Clearing Program.