WV has almost 3,000 pending drug cases
The number of drug cases pending in various courts in Western Visayas has reached 2,960 from January to June 21 this year, records of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 6 (PDEA-6) show.
Of the said number, 1,087 are in Bacolod City; 935 in Iloilo City; 345 in Negros Occidental, and 249 in Iloilo Province.
In Capiz, there are 151 pending drug cases; Aklan, 141; Antique, 32; and Guimaras, 20.
Paul Ledesma, PDEA-6 officer-in-charge, said the slow resolution of the cases is because of the few prosecutors and courts handling the drug cases.
“Our anti-drug operations and apprehensions are increasing every month, thus more drug cases are being filed in courts,” he said.
So far, PDEA-6 has conducted 90 operations this year that resulted to the arrest of 71 out of 859 drug personalities under their drug watchlist.
“There is no let-up against illegal drugs,” he said.
Last year, the PDEA-6 conducted 302 drug operations and arrested 448 drug personalities.
There are 4,050 drug affected barangays in the region, of which 162 are seriously affected.
In Iloilo City, all its 180 barangays are considered drug affected areas, with six seriously affected, majority of which are located in waterfront area.*
