TOP officials of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) have agreed to step up their partnership to clear the over the still 7,500 drug-affected barangays in the country this year, the Journal Group learned.

The move is part of the government’s effort to ensure that the Philippines will finally become a ‘drug-free country’ under the President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s administration.

On orders of Marcos Jr., the PNP headed by General Benjamin C. Acorda Jr. and the PDEA chaired by Director General Moro Virgilio M. Lazo will be fully relying on each other to address the problem.

The President earlier congratulated the PNP, PDEA, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) for their consolidated effort to clear 27,968 barangays of illegal drug activities from July 1, 2022 to December 31, 2023.

Another 7,543 barangays are subject to drug-clearing programs by the PDEA and the PNP this year while both are also keeping a close tab on 363 others which have been identified as ‘drug-unaffected.’

Last week, PNP Director for Police-Community Relations, Major Gen. Edgar Alan O. Okubo led a PNP team in paying a courtesy call to Lazo at the PDEA national headquarters in Quezon City.

Okubo was joined by other officials from the PNP Directorates for Operations, Intelligence and Investigation and Detective Management in visiting the PDEA office.

The meeting centered on strengthening cooperation and partnership between the PNP and the PDEA to attain the DILG’s sectoral outcome, “Drug Free Communities by 2028” under its “Buhay Ingatan, Droga’y Ayawan” Program.

Also discussed during the meeting were the accomplishments of the government’s Barangay Drug-Clearing program, the challenges encountered as well as recommendation and opportunities which the PNP officials said are also being met and addressed by their concerned units.

The officials present agreed to thresh out different issues and concerns being faced by the two law enforcement agencies to ensure seamless performance of their mandates and functions.

Lazo proposed the conduct of a national seminar-workshop enjoining concerned and relevant agencies to come up with an updated national list to revalidate the National Drugs Information System, develop further cooperation among agencies, develop responsive protocols on the conduct of various operations and many others.

He also encouraged close and direct coordination among subordinate officers without seeking bureaucratic protocols that hampers prompt actions.

Following the PNP team’s courtesy call on Lazo, the officials agreed to hold a monthly meeting of the Regional Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug Clearing Program (ROCBDP) to be initiated by PNP and PDEA Regional Directors to ensure that issues and concerns about the program are promptly addressed.

The officials also talked on the need for Persons Who Use Drugs (PWUDs) to undergo rehabilitation under government supervision as part of the barangay drug-clearing program.

Okubo said they will immediately cascade the agreed concept on the BCDP nationwide and will soon assess their field units’ efforts on the DILG’s BIDA program including the validation of reported accomplishments.

The Marcos administration last month said 23 provinces, 447 municipalities, and 43 cities have also established their respective community-based drug rehabilitation programs (CBDRPs) as of December 27 last year.

The report added that 50 provinces, 1,160 municipalities, and 30 cities have functional Anti-Drug Abuse Councils (ADACs) implementing anti-drug priorities at the local level.

The government also reported confiscating around P10.41 billion worth of illegal drugs from January to December 2023 amid PBBM’s new approach to address the menace.

The PDEA said that from July 1, 2022 to November 30, 2023, they collaborated with other law enforcement agencies in conducting a total of 52,9666 anti-drug operations which led to the arrest of 72,676 drug personalities and the seizure of more or less P30.39 billion worth of shabu and other illegal drugs.

The police force played a major role in the government’s successful campaign against illegal drugs by sending 56,495 targets to jail and accounting for more than P10.412 billion worth of shabu and other illegal substance.

It was also another ‘less bloody’ war on drugs as out of the 44,426 anti-narcotics operations conducted by the police force from January 1 to December 31, 2023, only 113 armed suspects were killed in gunbattles with officers.

The government said 74 established in-patient treatment and rehabilitation facilities were also put up last year to help treat drug dependents.

The DDB chaired by Sec. Catalino S., continues to implement the Barangay Drug Clearing Program with the goal of attaining 100 percent drug-free/drug-cleared barangays by 2028.

To reduce the supply of illegal drugs, the PDEA has intensified its efforts against top-level drug personalities, not only by arresting them but also by strengthening financial investigation to immobilize their assets.