By NITZ ARANCON and LITO RULONA Correspondents THERE are at least 3,300 people regularly using shabu in 38 of the city’s 80 barangays, excluding members of drug syndicates and their protectors, an official of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said on Monday. The revelation came as PDEA regional director Wilkins Villanueva met with city hall officials who expressed alarm over the seeming worsening drug problem in the city. Villanueva also revealed that the PDEA has listed 165 people suspected to be selling shabu. He said each shabu pusher maintains an average of 20 buyers or a total of 3,300. “But even if we round it off at five users for every pusher, you’d still get over 800,” he said. Villanueva said the PDEA has also identified “many government officials” in the city who are into shabu and police officers serving as protectors of crime groups specializing on the distribution of the illegal drug. He told councilors that the illegal drug operations have already affected some 38 barangays in the city but he did not name the barangays. Neither did Villanueva identify the officials and police officers with drug links but he said the PDEA was working to catch them. He said the protectors were being closely monitored. “We have identified them but they are not many compared to other cities in the country. But even then, they must be stopped,” Villanueva said. Of the 165 barangays, he said, seven were “slightly affected,” 20 “moderately affected,” and 11 were “seriously affected” with so-called “shabu tiangge” or drug dens. Villanueva said the growth of the shabu trade in the city was a result of the failure of various Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Councils (Badac) in the city to perform their role. The barangay-based councils are supposed to help narcotics agents in identifying drug dens, drug pushers, and drug users in the villages. He said the PDEA would continue arresting people involved in illegal drugs but the problem would continue unless the local government and barangays start a no-nonsense campaign against the drug trade. Villanueva said the drug users should be identified, and then warned by officials. He said there was also a need to start a massive drug rehabilitation program. “It is just a matter of identifying the drug users, and put them in their right place... If there are no users in the barangays, the drug trade would die. As long as there is a demand, expect the problem to persist,” he told the city council. Villanueva also called on local officials to act. “I believe that now is the time to act. Let us liberate our barangays from the proliferation of dangerous drugs.”