The province of Iloilo is getting closer to achieving a drug-free status.
Based on data from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA-6), 98.19 percent of barangays in whole province have been cleared of illegal drugs.
Drug-cleared barangays are those without the reported presence of illegal drug users, pushers, or any illegal drug activities at all.
According to PDEA-6, the volume of illegal drugs supply in Western Visayas decreased in the recent months.
It attributed the decline to numerous operations which resulted in the confiscation of the huge volume of illegal drugs.
From January 1 to September 5 this year, PDEA and the Philippine National Police (PNP) conducted 1,081 anti-drug operations. They seized 1,788.65 grams of marijuana, 90 pieces of marijuana plant, and 30,316.86 grams of shabu.
A total of 1,425 drug personalities were arrested in the first nine months of 2022.
The region is 87.90 percent cleared of illegal drugs. Of its 4,051 villages, 2,244 barangays are affected by illegal drugs and 1,317 are unaffected.
Antique has the highest percentage of barangays cleared with 99.32 percent and followed by Aklan with 99.08 percent.
Guimaras came in fourth with 96.93 percent, followed by Iloilo City with 51.66 percent and Bacolod City with 21.31 percent.IMT
