PDEA: 12 barangays in Manaoag ‘drug-cleared’
THE Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) recently declared 16 barangays in Manaoag as ‘drug-cleared’.
Those cleared barangays include Lipit Sur, Sapang, Calaocan, Bucao, Bisal, Tebuel, Licso, Inamotan, Matulong, Parian, San Ramon, and Pantal.
Eight more barangays in town are being processed to be declared drug-cleared.
Manaoag Mayor Jeremy Agerico Rosario admitted in an interview that maintaining the barangays rid of illegal drugs have been a challenge.
A Balay Silangan was erected in the town, the major requirement before the barangays can be cleared and the Drug Abuse Councils in all barangays and in the municipal level were reactivated.
The validation of the presence of users and peddlers in the barangays took 7 months.
“It was challenging, but it was all worth it”, said Rosario.
Meanwhile, the town’s Balay Silangan Reformation Center already accommodated its fourth batch of drug surrenderers.
Rosario said the fourth batch consists of residents of the town, who acknowledged that drug rehabilitation is necessary if they are to return to their normal lives.
“Karamihan sa mga drug surrenderees ay head of the family kaya tinitingnan ng MADAC kung anong tulong ang maaring ibigay sa kanilang pamilya”, said Rosario.
Aldrin Aquino, head of the Manaoag MADAC, oversees the operation of the Balay Silangan in the town.
He said the reform program requires a one-month stay in the Balay Silangan where daily health and check-ups are done, intervention processes are conducted including livelihood trainings by TESDA.
Rosario said they are doing their best so the town could be a benchmark for other municipalities. (Ahikam Pasion)
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