MANILA -- Four more barangays in the town of Balindong in Lanao del Sur have been recently declared drug-free, according to Mayor Benjamin Bagul on Tuesday.

Barangays Lumbacalalan, Pagayawan, Dibarusan and Limbo were declared drug-free barangays on August 15, 2021 by the members of the Regional Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug Clearing Program of the  Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

“Ang aim natin diyan is makapag-drug clear tayo ng maayos in a sense na ma-appreciate ng tao efforts natin [Our aim is to make sure that we are able to declare drug-free barangays effectively in a way that the people will appreciate],” Mayor Bagul said during the Network Briefing News with host Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar.

“We want to make sure na ma-maintain natin yung pagiging drug-cleared. Hindi tayo nagmamadali just to make sure [We are also making sure that we will maintain the drug-clear titles. We are not in a hurry, we just want to be  sure],” he added.

There are now a total of six drug-cleared barangays there. Balindong is a fourth class municipality with 38 barangays.

Balance between tourism and environment

In the same program, Mayor Bagul stressed that with the rising popularity of tourism in their town, the local government continues to recognize the balance between nature and tourism.

Mt. Matampor in Balindong is a known hiking site in the town. The LGU is still restricting the conduct of outdoor recreations there because of the pandemic, while ensuring that the health of the environment is maintained.

Floating cottages can also be found in Lake Lanao which became a tourist site for the town.

Mayor Bagul noted that they also do clean-up drives to ensure that Lake Lanao won’t be polluted.

“We’re still prohibiting illegal fishing as usual. When it comes to the environment, we often conduct clean-up drives around Lake Lanao with NGOs, because Lake Lanao is very important to us,” he said. (PCOO)