Most of 31 celebs on narcolist are young men —PDEA

Majority of the 31 celebrities included in Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)'s drug watch list are young men in their 20s and 30s, the agency's chief said Wednesday.

"They are all popular. In fact, most of them are (on) television and most of them are still in the movies," PDEA director general Aaron Aquino said on Jun  Veneracion's report on "24 Oras."

While he did not disclose any names, the PDEA chief said three celebrities on the list were considered "old" while 11 of them were actresses.

"When I say 'old,' they are about in the 40s and when I say 'young,' it could be either in their 30s or 20s," Aquino said.

Aquino reiterated that the anti-illegal drugs agency is determined to go after the personalities on the list.

From April 2016 until February 2019, the PDEA said 176,021 drug suspects have been arrested whereas 5,281 were killed in anti-illegal operations.

"From 2016, the crime in the country has gone down and that has been the trend since the start of the war on drugs," Philippine National Police deputy spokesperson Police Lieutenant Colonel Kimberly Molitas said in a briefing

However, even as there were 11,437 drug-cleared barangays, a total 21,755 have yet have yet to be cleared.

Nevertheless, PDEA spokesperson Derrick Carreon said the numbers of drug-cleared barangays are "steadily increasing by the month" while drug-affected barangays are "decreasing." —Margaret Claire Layug/LDF, GMA News