PDEA: REVIEW AREAS CLEARED OF DRUGS

Pdea recommended revalidation since there are already identified drug personalities

BECAUSE it has already been a year since they were declared drug cleared, some 245 barangays in Cebu Province will undergo a revalidation.

In an interview last Wednesday, March 27, Cebu Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Office (Cpadao) Chief Carmen Remedios Durano-Meca said it will be the Regional Oversight Committee that will oversee the revalidation.

“It’s been a year since they were declared drug cleared. The recommendation of Pdea (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency) is to revalidate already, especially since there are already identified drug personalities,” Meca said.

Meca added that while it is the Cpadao that will monitor and evaluate the functionality of the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council, it will be the oversight committee that will conduct the validation.

After the revalidation, the committee will send a notice to the local chief executives of the concerned local government units (LGU) based on its findings.

The LGU is then given 30 days to act on the recommendations. Failure to do so within the given period will result in the revocation of its drug-cleared status.

Earlier, the Cpadao revealed that at least 25 of the drug-cleared barangays had failed to sustain their parameters.

The parameters include neutralizing the presence of drug personalities in the barangay, the enrollment of drug surrenderers in the comprehensive community-based drug rehabilitation program and the implementation of a community aftercare program for surrenderers who have completed the rehab program, among others.