CPADAO to recommend 20 brgys as drug-cleared

The Cebu Provincial AntiDrug Abuse Office (CPADAO) is endorsing 20 barangays in the province to be declared as “drug-cleared” by the Oversight Committee.

The 20 are among the 83 barangays that were validated by CPADAO.

Ivy Durano-Meca, chief of CPADAO, said the 20 barangays will be endorsed to the Oversight Committee once the members meet again with the new director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Central Visayas.

The committee is tasked to evaluate barangays if these complied with the requirements and parameters set by the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) to have “drug-cleared” certification.

The Oversight Committee in the province, which is composed of PDEA, Philippine National Police (PNP), Department of Health (DOH), Cebu Province and CPADAO, was not able to convene for over one month after the former director of PDEA was transferred to another agency.

The PDEA director serves as the chairman of the committee as mandated by law.

Meca said while there is no meeting yet set by the committee, her office will continue with the assessment of barangays applying for “drugcleared” certification.

If the 20 will be declared, this will be the third batch of barangays that will be “drugcleared” following the 160 barangays cleared earlier this year.

“Hopefully by the end of the year, we will be able to declare the 83 (barangays as drug-cleared),” said Meca.

Meca added they continue to monitor the 160 barangays that were first cleared. Failure to act on an intervention within 30 days since drug activities resurfaced is a ground for revocation of their status.

The CPADAO is proposing a P32 million budget for their office next year, an increase of over 10 million from their current P20 million budget.

The increase is due to the additional manpower of their office with the new opening of vacant positions and purchase of vehicle for the field officer who will go to different local government units to conduct drug test of government employees.