98 of 896 Manila villages certified drug-free

Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim on Tuesday recognized that 98 out of the 896 barangays (villages) in the city were “drug-free.”

Lim made the declaration during a certification ceremony held at the city hall. The certification awarding program was spearheaded by the Anti-Drug Abuse Council of Manila (Adcom). The declaration was also a first in the city.

Manila Barangay Bureau chief and Adcom executive director Analyn Buan said that although the drug-free barangays represented only 10.9 percent of the city’s barangays, the rest remained generally “clean.”

An initial list furnished to the Inquirer showed only 88 barangays that were certified to be drug-free. Of these, 22 are in District IV, 18 each in Districts I and III, 16 in District V, 8 in District II and 6 in District VI.

Buan said the 10 other barangays were also given certification during the program.

In an interview, Adcom operations officer Lucio Margallo IV said that Adcom was convened in August last year following the dismal report by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) that Manila was 100-percent “drug-affected.”

The council immediately asked the barangays to submit illegal-drug situationers in their areas.

Of the 550 that submitted reports, 150 claimed they were drug-free. Only 98 of the 150 passed the screening of the Adcom, Margallo said.

To be validated as drug-free, the school in the subject barangay must not have a single student involved or implicated in drugs, its youth center must validate that no minors in the area have been involved in drug-related incidents, the police station commander covering the area must certify that no apprehensions or raids have been conducted in the barangay, the Manila Treatment and Rehabilitation Center should certify that they have not treated a resident of the barangay, and the barangay should have a drug-free program, among other things, Margallo explained.

The 98 awarded their certificates on Tuesday had remained drug-free as of Jan. 1, 2012, Margallo said.