Angono declared ‘drug-cleared’

Rizal map

LUCENA CITY––The town of Angono in Rizal province has been declared drug-clear, the municipal public information office (PIO) said Wednesday.

“Angono’s 10 barangays have finally been cleared of (illegal) drugs,” Mary Joy Esconde, Angono PIO chief, said in a statement sent to the Inquirer.

She cited the report of the Calabarzon Regional Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug-Clearing Operation and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency that have declared their town as now free from the clutches of illegal drugs.

Esconde said the first to be declared “drug-free barangays” were Kalayaan, Poblacion Ibaba, San Roque, Sto Nino, and Bagumbayan, followed by San Pedro, Mahabang Parang, and Poblacion Itaas. San Vicente and San Isidro were the last to be validated, Esconde said.

Acting Mayor Gerardo Calderon said, in a statement, that much more was to be done to maintain its stature as a drug-free municipality.

“We are happy that the entire Angono is now drug-free. But that does not give us the reason to be complacent. We find it rather more difficult to sustain what we have collectively attained,” Calderon said during the Municipal Peace and Order Council meeting over the weekend.

The mayor urged the local police to sustain its campaign against illegal drug use and trade in Angono.

Calderon said the local government was also working on a partnership with the 10 barangays and local businesses for close-circuit television cameras to help monitor the peace and order situation.

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