MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur (PIA)--Six barangays of the municipality of Balindong were cleared of illegal drugs following series of evaluations and monitoring.

This was disclosed by Balindong mayor Benjamin Bagul during the Network Briefing News with Communications Sec. Martin Andanar Tuesday, August 17.

Bagul said four barangays were recently declared 'drug cleared' by the Regional Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug-Clearing Program. These are Lumbacalalan, Dibarusan, Pagayawan, and Limbo.

Two barangays, Lilod and Lumbacawato, were already cleared last year.

"All in all we have six drug-cleared barangays. Little by little, gagawin natin yan. Ang aim natin dyan ay makapagdrug-clear tayo ng maayos in a sense na maappreciate ng mga tao yung efforts natin," he said.

[All in all, we have six drug-cleared barangays. Little by little, we will do that. Our aim here is to be able to clear (barangays) from drugs properly in a sense that people will appreciate our effort.]

The local chief executive further said they are not in a hurry to clear all their barangays because they want to ensure that once they cleared a barangay, it is truly drug-cleared.

A drug-cleared barangay is a village that was previously drug-affected and subjected to drug-clearing operations and declared drug-free under the parameters established by the Dangerous Drugs Board. (APB/PIA-ICIC)