BALANGA CITY, Bataan -- Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) declared Saturday, February 8, 2020, Aurora and Bataan as drug-cleared provinces during a ceremony held in Balanga City.
PDEA regional director Lyndon Aspacio personally awarded the plaque of recognition to Aurora Acting Governor Christian Noveras and Bataan Governor Albert Raymond Garcia.
"I hope we are all on this together to maintain the drug-free status of the two provinces. Let's not put all our efforts to waste, and we should not let our constituents go back to their bad habits," Aspcio stressed.
For his part, Noveras cited unity among mayors, punong barangays and police as key in the attainment of the drug-free status.
"This is a historical event for the province of Aurora because at this moment, we are one of the first provinces in Central Luzon declared as drug-cleared as a result of our intense campaign against illegal drugs," he said.
Garcia, on the other hand, asked for the continued support of local officials, national government agencies and the private sector in maintaining the drug-free status of Bataan.
"We need to stay alert and continue monitoring so we could prevent the entry of illegal drugs in our barangays, towns, city and province," he stressed.
This is the second-time Bataan was recognized as a drug-cleared province after its first declaration in 2016.
Meanwhile, the 11 towns and lone city of Bataan were also recognized for their conduct of drug clearing operations resulting to the declaration of all 237 barangays in the province as drug-cleared in accordance with the parameters set by Dangerous Drugs Board.
The parameters include a functional Barangay Anti-Illegal Drug Abuse Council, non-availability of drug supply, existence of drug awareness campaign, and voluntary and compulsory drug treatment and rehabilitation processing desk. (PR)