President Duterte Declared NIR As Third Most Drug Affected Region In The Country
President Rodrigo Duterte declared that Negros Island Region (NIR) is the third most drug-affected region here in the Philippines.
On Wednesday (January 12, 2016), President Duterte declared that NIR is the third most drug-affected region in the country during his meeting at Malacañang, together with mayors from different regions in the Philippines.
The president met the mayors from Visayas and Mindanao at 2:00 pm, at 4:00 pm Duterte, met the mayors from Luzon and National Capital Region. Victorias City Mayor Frederick Francis Palanca, president of Association of Chief Executives (ACE) in Negros has also attended the meeting
The meeting was also participated 30 out of the 32 mayors from Negros Occidental. Mayor Palanca of Victorias City said that Mayors Enrique Montilla III of Isabela and Cicero Borromeo of Candoni were absent at the meeting due to health issues.
The president revealed the most drug-affected regions in the country. NCR is on the top of the list, Central Luzon was in the second spot, and NIR was ranked third on the list, where 90 percent of its barangay were affected by illegal drugs.
Duterte did not mention any officials from NIR during the meeting but he urges the local government officials to support his campaign against illegal drugs. He also told that mayor to do their job properly and he will support them all the way, according to Mayor Palanca.
The president showed them about one ream of bond paper containing the list of local government official’s names involved in illegal drug activities, according to Silay City Mayor Mark Golez.
About 90. 08 percent or 1, 107 barangay in NIR were affected by illegal drug activities, according to the report of Police Regional Office (PRO)-NIR last September 30, 2016. 100 percent of barangay in Negros Oriental and Bacolod City are affected by drugs, according to the report. While 81.36 percent of barangay in Negros Occidental were already affected by drugs.
The records from PRO-18 last December 2016 showed that 24 barangay in Negros Oriental and 31 barangay in Negros Occidental were already free from drugs.