The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency has declared San Juan as the first city in the National Capital Region with 100 percent of its barangays drug-cleared by the agency.
Three more barangays, namely: West Crame, San Perfecto and Batis, were declared drug-cleared under the provisional status last 14 December 2022.
“One-hundred percent of our barangays are now drug-cleared,” Mayor Francis Zamora told reporters after the final deliberation on Thursday at the Sangguniang Panglungsod Session Hall.
“This drug-clearing status is a big thing for us and I’m hoping that all our barangay officials will maintain this status. We must continue to maintain this status until ultimately we reach the drug-cleared city status,” he said.
Zamora also said that the local government has set up the Balay Silangan, the city’s drug reformation center for persons who used illegal drugs.
“I just want to see persons who used drugs before to go back to their normal lives,” he said.
“We have various livelihood opportunities for them and we have skills training for them. So, we give all the opportunities for persons who used drugs,” the mayor added.
The four-storey facility has classrooms for livelihood training, quarters for persons who used drugs, PDEA office, and office for the city anti-drug abuse council.