DRUG-CLEARED MUNICIPALITY. Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Pangasinan Director Retchie Camacho (right) awards the certificate for drug-cleared status to Binalonan Mayor Ramon Ronald Guico IV on Thursday (June 6, 2024) at the Municipal Building in Binalonan town, Pangasinan. Binalonan and San Fabian towns are the recent addition to the drug-cleared municipalities in Pangasinan. (Photo courtesy of PDEA Pangasinan)
MALASIQUI, Pangasinan – The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) has declared San Fabian and Binalonan towns as drug-cleared, bringing to 34 the total drug-cleared municipalities in Pangasinan.
PDEA-Pangasinan Director Retchie Camacho, in a phone interview on Friday, said the two towns passed the documentary requirements and the deliberation with the Regional Oversight Committee held on May 30.
“Since their barangays (villages) are all cleared, it was the local government unit’s (LGU) turn to submit documents and undergo deliberation,” he said in Filipino.
Camacho said Binalonan’s 23 villages have long been drug-cleared, except for one that was included in the list during the Duterte administration.
On the other hand, San Fabian’s 34 villages were drug-cleared recently, after the 64 identified drug personalities in the 2016 Tokhang List, or the list of individuals suspected to be involved in illegal drugs, have graduated from the Balay Silangan Reformation Center rehabilitation program, he added.
PDEA-Pangasinan has awarded the certificate of drug cleared status to Binalonan town’s officials on June 6, while San Fabian is set to schedule its awarding program.
Camacho said the towns of Dasol, Umingan, and San Nicolas are also lined-up for the drug-clear status certification either this month or in July.
He asked the LGUs to stay vigilant against illegal drugs on the back of their drug-cleared status.
“We immediately take action against the newly-identified drug personalities in the drug-cleared areas to maintain their status,” he said. (PNA)
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