Quirino is a drug-free province; Santiago City, in close monitoring by PDEA

CABARROGUIS, Quirino- Quirino was declared a Drug-free Province, Nov. 4. 2022 during the celebration of the birthday of Gov. Dakila Carlo Cua at the Capitol Gymnasium here.

According to the Regional Director of the Phil. Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Mr. Joel Plaza, six municipalities and 132 barangays in the whole of Quirino Province have been “drug-free”, thus the declaration. He said the challenge facing Quirino is the continuous implementation of anti-drug programs. It is said that the efforts of the Local Government must remain and it should not be lost.

Quirino ranks second to Batanes as the first drug-free province in the entire country which was declared in June 2017.

Meanwhile, according to Plaza, many personalities involved in drugs are being validated in the City of Santiago City. “The cooperation of the barangays is necessary, especially the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council. Without their cooperation, it will be difficult for us to validate the personalities from the list”, added Plaza.

He said that there are still 92 barangays located in the cities of Region 2 that needed validation, hence the agency is working hard to declare them drug-free.

According to Plaza, Region 2 is said to be 95% “drug-cleared”.# MAE BARANGAN