2 Capitol-Run Facilities to Serve Drug Surrenderers, Offenders Soon
Two facilities that will be under the supervision of the Cebu Provincial Government to help the rehabilitation of drug surrenderers and law offenders will soon become operational.
In her report during the quarterly meeting of the Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC), Cebu Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Office Chief Carmen Remedios Durano-Meca said the New Life Cebu Province Rehabilitation Center in Pinamungajan town will be completed in February next year, while the Balay Silangan Reformation Center in Danao City will open its doors next month.
The 160-bed drug rehabilitation facility in Pinamungajan was donated by Globe Telecom and its construction is ongoing.
The reformation center in Danao City located at the Ramon Durano Foundation Sr. Inc. is currently undergoing renovation.
The implementation of “Balay Silangan” program is pursuant to Dangerous Drugs Board Regulation No. 2, Series of 2018, titled “Balay Silangan–Guidelines for Community Involvement in Reforming Drug Offenders into Self-Sufficient and Law-Abiding Members of Society.”
While the rehabilitation center in Pinamungajan is intended for drug surrenderers who needed treatment, the “Balay Silangan” will serve as a community-based reformation facility for drug peddlers, who surrendered with no pending cases.
Those drug personalities who entered into a plea-bargaining agreement with the government will also be accepted in the “Balay Silangan.”
“If the surrenderer is both a user and a pusher, the person needs to be treated first before the person can be enrolled to the reformatory program,” said Meca, adding that the facility in Danao City serves as the pilot project in Central Visayas.
Last Sept. 27, the first community-based reformation center was launched in Danao City led by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA 7) Acting Regional Director Warley Getalla and Danao City Mayor Ramonito Durano III.
The event was also graced by representatives from the Police Regional Office-Central Visayas, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, other local officials, and the Danao City drug reformists. (Cebu Provincial Gov’t)
