SAN FERNANDO CITY, June 29 (PIA) -- The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) had declared a total of 2,252 villages as drug-cleared as of June 28, following the results of the assessment of the oversight committee.

PDEA Region 1 Director Bryan Babang said the members of the Regional Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug Clearing Program (ROCBDCP) convened last week to plan all the possible validation initiatives for the drug clearing of the remaining 677 barangays in the region.

“Our relentless visitation and dissemination activities at the grassroots level are continuing to assist the local government units (LGUs) in clearing their barangays from illegal drugs,” Babang said.

The ROCBDCP is composed of PDEA as chairperson, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) as vice-chairperson, and the Department of Health (DOH), the Philippine National Police, and the LGUs as members.

“We are reaching out to all the reported drug offenders to encourage them to avail the government interventions in the Balay Silangan,” he said.

Babang said the region had already established a total of 22 Balay Silangan, a reformation center for drug offenders.

“The Balay Silangan is the reformation center for drug offenders wherein it provides religious or spiritual and psychological interventions. It also offers livelihood training skills in partnership with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to develop skills of clients since the target are drug pushers who might have engaged in the illegal drug trade due to their lack of economic activity,” he said.

As of June 22, Babang said 214 clients are presently attending the intervention activities in the Balay Silangan.

A total of 74 clients have already graduated from the facility. (JCR/AMB/FGL, PIA–1)