PDEA Pangasinan Director Retchie Camacho. (Screengrabbed from PDEA Pangasinan)
MALASIQUI, Pangasinan – The municipality of Asingan in this province has been cleared of illegal drugs and seven others are applying for cleared status, according to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Pangasinan provincial office.
In an interview on Wednesday, PDEA Pangasinan director Retchie Camacho said Asingan town was deliberated and cleared by the regional committee on Tuesday.
He said Asingan town passed the deliberation for having complied with the required Balay Silangan and all its barangays were cleared of illegal drug activities and personalities.
“May Balay Silangan pero wala pang enrolled client since cleared na nga silang lahat (They have their Balay Silangan but there were no enrolled client since they were already cleared) but Balay Silangan is one of the requirements of the municipalities for their drug-cleared status,” he added.
He assured that there will be continuous monitoring even in the drug-cleared localities.
Asingan is yet to formalize its drug-cleared status in a ceremony to be held in their town.
Meanwhile, seven municipalities in the province are applying for drug-cleared status since all their barangays were already drug-cleared and they just need to comply with documentary requirements and pass the deliberation, Camacho said.
These are the towns of Agno, Bautista, Binalonan, Bolinao, San Fabian, San Nicolas, and Umingan.
The PDEA Pangasinan is constantly coordinating with the local government units in the province to be able to assist them in achieving a drug-cleared status, he said.
He said the remaining eight towns and four cities in the province that are not yet cleared mostly have only one each remaining affected village.
“We are focusing on them to be able to clear the whole municipality or town. We are doing our best with the local government,” he said. (PNA)
