105 barangay officials in W. Visayas on PDEA list

BACOLOD CITY—At least 105 barangay officials in Western Visayas are being monitored by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) for drug trading.

Of the 105 on the PDEA watch list, 10 are barangay captains and 95 are councilors, said Wardley Getalla, PDEA Western Visayas director.

Among the Western Visayas provinces, Iloilo tops the list with 33 barangay officials, followed by Antique with 25 and Negros Occidental with 24.

Getalla said that of the 24 in Negros Occidental, three were barangay captains and the rest councilors.

A majority of the barangay officials in the region are drug users while a few are protectors or pushers, she added. In Bacolod, she said, a councilor is on the watch list as a protector of drug dealers while the other is a narcotics user. —CARLA P. GOMEZ