CEBU CITY: A total of 49 barangays in Central Visayas are declared drug-cleared, according to the regional oversight committee report on Thursday. Leia Alcantara, spokesperson of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-7, said that the Regional Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug Clearing (ROCBDC)-7 released the figure after the deliberation on Wednesday. Of the number, 25 of the new barangays cleared of drugs are from Cebu province, 12 from Bohol, eight from Negros Oriental, one in Cebu City, and three from Lapu-Lapu City. The committee also reported 43 barangays that have retained their validated status as drug-cleared. Based on the report, the committee said 37 barangays from Cebu province retained their drug-cleared status; the other barangays are from Lapu-Lapu City, which has four, and Cebu City with two. Fifteen of the 20 drug-free barangays in Central Visayas were from Bohol province, four from Siquijor, and one from Cebu province. 'The process of validation and verification of drug-clear ed and drug-free barangays is to ensure that the barangays have sustained their anti-illegal drug programs and new drug activities or relapse cases are immediately addressed,' Alcantara said. Emerson Margate, regional director of PDEA-7 and chairperson of the oversight committee, said they would convene soon once they get applications for the drug-cleared and dug-free status of villages. Source: Philippines News agency