CABANATUAN CITY – Five villages in Nueva Ecija were declared cleared of illegal drugs amidst the government’s continuous war against the menace.
Nueva Ecija police director Col. Marvin Joe Saro presented the Certificate of Drug-Cleared Barangays to the villages of Culaylay, Villa Marina, and Pinili in San Jose City, Inanama in Llanera, and Piñahan in Gen. Mamerto Natividad.
The awards were received by their respective chairmen in simple rites at the NEPPO Hostel here Monday.
As declared and approved by the Regional Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug–Clearing Program Region III, the said villages have “satisfactorily complied with the parameters of a drug-cleared barangay in accordance with the Dangerous Drugs Board Regulation No. 3, Series of2017,” according to the NEPPO public information office.
DDB Regulation No. 3, Series of 2017 pertains to strengthening the implementation of the Barangay Drug–Clearing Program.
Records from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency showed that a total of 775 of 849 barangays of Nueva Ecija were drug affected. Of which, 336 (47.22 percent) were already cleared as of Oct. 5.
Meanwhile, 316 (40.77 percent) are under process of drug clearing with PDEA, thus the remaining 93 (12 percent) are under intensified police operations, police said.
Saro, who was joined by PDEA–Nueva Ecija officials led by IA3 Jenylyn Abuela, said the program was conducted, while observing health protocols imposed by the inter-agency task force against Covid-19, as a holistic approach against illegal drugs among government agencies and various stakeholders.
He also cited the program to rehabilitate drug surrenderers.
