NAGUILIAN, La Union—This town, the erstwhile place of a secret shabu laboratory in the country, has notched a feather in the Duterte administration when it was declared recently as illegal drug-free municipality, the first in the province.
Officials said the town’s 28 barangays have all been cleared of illegal drugs or any related activities by the Municipal Anti-Drug Abuse Council (Madac).
Mayor Reynaldo Flores, Madac chairman, said: “All the barangays, families, schools, public and private agencies, and all the establishments in our town have submitted an individual form given by Madac to validate their own ranks with regard to illegal drugs or related activities.
“The validation was done through the guidelines of the Dangerous Drugs Board.”
The Madac validators, composed of representatives from Philippine National Police, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Social Welfare and Development, local government units, and religious groups, confirmed all the 28 barangays were free of illegal drugs.
“The barangays were validated one-by-one, as well as school teachers and students, workers in government agencies and private establishments, and the whole employees of our municipal government,” Flores said.
Flores, previously named as a “high-value target” after President Rodrigo Duterte named him in his narco-list, himself has been cleared by the PNP after an investigation, officials said.
Flores said they will be inviting officials of the PNP, DILG, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, National Bureau of Investigation, and other law enforcement agencies to validate and confirm the clearance of the affected barangays including those declared drug-free.
Madac recorded 415 surrenderers now undergoing self-rehabilitation as assisted by the municipal government, one of them will be brought to a rehabilitation center.
One of the illegal drug-free barangay is Upper Bimmotobot, the village where the shabu laboratory was discovered in July 2008.
Authorities said at least a trillion pesos worth of shabu was manufactured in the area for its more than one year operation.
Former Dagupan City police C/Supt. Dionicio Borromeo has been convicted after he was found guilty of protecting the operation of the shabu lab.
C/Insp. Cirilo Butigan Jr., the town’s police chief, said he already reported to the PNP headquarters in La Union and the PDEA regional office in Camp Diego Silang that the whole town of Naguilian has been cleared of illegal drugs.