CALAPAN CITY, Oriental Mindoro (PIA) — Two provinces in the MIMAROPA region are being eyed to be declared as drug-cleared areas this year.
During the First Quarter Regional Inter-agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD) Advocacy Cluster on February 21, Gracel Domingo of PDEA MIMAROPA said they are hopeful that the provinces of Romblon and Marinduque will be declared as drug-free given the parameters set for such declaration.
She said that assessment and deliberation for the issuance of resolution for a drug-cleared status will resume after the May 2025 national and local elections.
The conduct of validation, verification and deliberation for the declaration as drug-cleared is done by the Regional Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug Clearing (ROCBDC).
Domingo said that based on their record, of the 73 towns, including the two cities in the region, 21 municipalities have already been declared as drug-cleared, of which 14 are in Romblon, four in Palawan and one each in the provinces of Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque and Occidental Mindoro.
She added that since May 2024, all the 1,460 barangays in the region have zero drug affectation. Of said figure, 336 barangays are classified as drug-free and 1,124 are drug-cleared.
However, to retain the declaration status, the drug-free barangays will again be subjected to verification while those that are drug-cleared will undergo a validation process, Domingo explained.
Meanwhile, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) MIMAROPA Assistant Regional Director Rey Maranan has assured the group that the agency, through their Local Government Operations Officers assigned in every local government unit, is guiding the local officials to meet the criteria to make their community drug-free.
Maranan said that the different national government agencies are also providing support to the LGUs to achieve said goal.
During the meeting, the DILG revealed that six municipalities in MIMAROPA region, namely Torrijos in Marinduque, and Calatrava, Santa Maria, San Fernando, and Romblon, all in Romblon province, were conferred as 2024 Anti-Drug Abuse Council Performance National Awardees. (JBG/PIA MIMAROPA)
