By Jennifer P. Rendon
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-6 said their office and the Philippine National Police made notable accomplishments against the illegal drug trade in the first semester of 2022.
PDEA-6 regional director Alex Tablate cited the anti-narcotics operations that were conducted in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental this year.
In San Carlos City, the PNP seized around two kilos of suspected shabu while PDEA was able to recover three kilos of the same substance at BREDCO port in January.
One of the biggest seizures was made in Escalante City, Negros Occidental in March after operatives recovered around 5 kilos of shabu.
Tablate said these results could indicate that drug personalities with contacts in the National Capital Region and Cebu are again trying to revive and smuggle shabu into Western Visayas through the usual routes.
“However, with the joint and coordinated efforts from PDEA, PNP and other law-enforcement units, we were very fortunate to have seized these drugs,” he said.
“Otherwise, it could have been distributed to the communities/barangays to the detriment of our continuing efforts in the implementation of the barangay-drug clearing program.”
Tablate again highlighted the importance of direct participation of the barangays which he claimed is very crucial in this effort.
“This cannot be done alone by the operatives,” he said adding that “important tips and crucial information coming from the communities led to the confiscation of big volume of illegal drugs and arrests of these personalities.”
On demand-reduction efforts, Tablate said they already have momentum in the Barangay Drug Clearing Program (BDCP) implementation.
“We are almost 88 percent in our clearing efforts region-wide. With this, we are among the top regions who are performing well in this endeavor that is why, the continuing support of LGUs is therefore a must for us here in the region,” he said.
The BDCP, which conducts the deliberation and validation, is a multi-agency group composed of PDEA, Philippine National Police (PNP), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the Department of Health (DOH), as well as the respective local chief executives (LCEs) that have jurisdiction of these barangays.
For a barangay to be finally declared as “drug-cleared” or officially “unaffected,” they need to have complied with all the requirements and parameters set forth under DDB Regulation No. 3, Series of 2017 on Strengthening the Implementation of BDCP.
DRUG WAR IS NOT A FAILURE
Earlier, PDEA-6 has declared that the war on drugs is not a failure following the destruction of “the largest amount of seized dangerous drugs for calendar year 2022 amounting to a total of P95.5 million.”
In a statement, PDEA said that “through its partnership with stakeholders in the anti-drug war, 11.7 kilos of shabu amounting to P93.8 million and 12.4 kilos of marijuana amounting to P1.8 million were destroyed during the ceremony held at the Acropolis Gardens in Barangay Bata, Bacolod City on June 24, 2022
In attendance were members of the Golden Salakot Eagles Club, Department of Justice, Public Attorney’s Office, several elected public officials, members of the media and representatives from the PNP Regional Office VI.
