CEBU CITY, April 12 -- An additional 76 villages in Central Visayas have been declared drug-cleared as of Friday, bringing to 1,744 or over half of the 3,003 barangays the total number that were cleared from illegal drugs, an anti-narcotics agency official said.

Of the 76 barangays, 36 are from Cebu province, 30 came from Negros Oriental, four from Bohol, five from Mandaue City, and one from Cebu City.

Tudela municipality in Cebu province was conferred the status of a drug-free municipality, the ninth so far in the region, during the April 11-12, 2024, blended deliberation.

Emerson Margate, regional director of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Central Visayas, who chairs the Regional Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug Clearing (ROC...