Five parishes chosen to pilot drug recovery program

CEBU, Philippines - Five parishes, four in Cebu City and one in Mandaue City, have been picked by the Archdiocese of Cebu as pilot areas that will be adopting the community-based drug recovery program which incorporates spiritual formation.

According to the recent issue of  Ang Bag-ong Lungsoranon0, the official newsletter of the archdiocese, two separate trainings are slated for interested volunteers from the parishes who want to assist in the implementation of the Cebu Archdiocesan Program for Drug Dependents (CAPDD) in their respective parishes.

The pilot parishes in Cebu City are Sto. Rosario Parish along P. del Rosario Street, Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral along Mabini Street, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart along N. Escario Street, and San Isidro Labrador in Barangay Talamban.

The fifth is the San Roque Parish in Barangay Subangdaku in Mandaue City which is the pioneer of the community-based drug rehab program dubbed “Labang” for “Lahat Bangon.”

The schedules of the trainings are tentatively set on May 27 and June 3 and will be held at the Dilaab Center in Barangay Mabolo, Cebu City.

The selected parishes are asked to send at least 10 volunteers each that will compose the core group that will be facilitating the implementation of the program which aims to help drug dependents recover from drug addiction.

The topics to be tackled during the trainings include pharmacology and nature of drug addiction; the twelve-step support group; the screening of drug dependents; supportive communication; spirituality of pastoral companions, among others.

These two separate trainings is spearheaded by the CAPDD technical working group that will be orienting and training volunteers to equip and empower them in dealing with the drug problem at their own level.

CAPDD is a coordinating body that aims to help the parishes choose or set up their own programs at their own level. Through the Ugnayang Barangay at Simbahan (UBAS), it aims to link the parish with the barangays and other local government units to come up with a common platform in addressing the drug problem in their community.

CAPDD is dependent on two major existing programs that serve as its component offerings to the parishes and local government units for the rehabilitation of drug dependents.

First is SuGod, or Surrender to God, a ten-day intensive seminar initiated by Kaalam Foundation, Inc., and second is Labang, a community-based drug rehab program. (FREEMAN)