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[av_heading heading=’Drugs Board OKs funding for Bacolod rehab center ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY MAE SINGUAY
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BACOLOD City – The Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) agreed to fund the construction of a drug treatment and rehabilitation center here.
It will shell out P15 million, Councilor Caesar Distrito said, citing an email he received from Melanie Castillo, officer-in-charge of the DDB’s Administrative and Finance Management Division.
Earlier the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) asked the DDB and the Department of Health to establish a “Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Center.”
Such center will “intensively and effectively address the problem of drug abuse and dependence,” the SP said in a resolution.
Distrito, author of the resolution, confirmed the DDB’s approval of the request in a Facebook post on Saturday evening.
According to the councilor, the amount will be sourced from the DDB’s “Special Fund 151,” which is used to bankroll the establishment of drug treatment and rehabilitation centers across the country.
The DDB shall “support the establishment of government-operated regional treatment and rehabilitation centers, depending [on] the availability of funds,” the SP had said, citing Section 75 of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002’s implementing rules and regulations.
Distrito said the center may be put up at the site of a nongovernment organization-run drug rehabilitation facility at Paglaum Village in Barangay Mansilingan or at Progreso Village in Barangay Granada.
The city government will provide for the budget for maintenance, operating expenses, furniture, and medical staff and equipment, he said.
Distrito hopes the DDB fund gets released by January 2017.
He said he plans to meet with the city health officer, city administrator, city engineer, secretary to the mayor, and Department of Social Services and Development head to discuss the preparation of requirements.
The Philippine National Police’s intensified campaign against illegal drugs has resulted in the surrender of thousands of drug users and peddlers across the country.
Oplan Double Barrel, launched on July 1, involves police officers warning drug personalities to stop their illegal activities and encouraging them to surrender.
Those who refuse to reform will be subject to more aggressive search and buy-bust operations./PN
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