BACOLOD City – The municipality of Pulupandan in Negros Occidental unveiled the first-ever Balay Silangan Reformation Center in the province in rites led by officials of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Western Visayas.
Situated in Sitio Pukatod, Barangay Pag-ayon, the facility will serve as a temporary refuge for drug offenders to reform them into self-sufficient and law-abiding members of society.
PDEA Region 6 director Edgar Apalla urged stakeholders to maintain government programs and projects in the campaign against drugs.
“Huwag nating pabayaan na bumalik sila sa dati nilang buhay,” he added.
The Balay Silangan program will be jointly implemented by the municipal government led by Mayor Miguel Antonio Peña and the PDEA headed by Director General Wilkins Villanueva.
During last week’s launch and inauguration of the facility, officials of various concerned agencies signed the manifesto of commitment as a “gesture of acceptance and declaration of intention to take part in the implementation of the Balay Silangan Reformation Program”.
The event was also witnessed by PDEA director Donelyn Hemedez, municipal administrator Federico Infante and Police Major Renante Jomocan of the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office.
The Pulupandan Balay Silangan Reformation Center is the 24th drug reformation facility in Western Visayas jointly established by a local government unit and the PDEA.
A National Oversight Committee chaired by PDEA will oversee the implementation of Balay Silangan, whose members include the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Technical Education and Skills Development Administration, Parole and Probation Administration, Bureau of Corrections, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of National Defense, the Philippine National Police, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines. (With a report from PNA/PN)
