SMC, government to build new drug rehab center

MANILA, Philippines – Delivering on an earlier commitment to support the government’s campaign against drugs, San Miguel Corp. (SMC), through its social development arm San Miguel Foundation, has signed an agreement to construct a drug rehabilitation facility in the province of Bataan.

The facility is the first of several that SMC is looking to build under a P1-billion donation it pledged to the government last August.

Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr., Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno, Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial, Bataan Gov. Albert Garcia, SMC president Ramon Ang and Rowena Kristina Amara Velasco of non-profit Pilipinong May Puso Foundation Inc. (PMPF) signed the agreement.

Under the agreement, SMC will provide funding and undertake construction of the rehabilitation facility. It will be built on land identified and provided by the Bataan provincial government.

The Department of Health will run and maintain the facility and will provide specifications for the facility in consultation with the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Office of the President.

For its part, the PMPF will develop and provide sustainable livelihood programs and capability-building activities for recovering drug dependents.

It will also provide skills training at the facility. These will include modules on entrepreneurship, handicrafts, basic computer and information technology skills, horticulture and animal raising, among others.

“We’re fully supportive of our government’s anti-drug dependency efforts. We want to be able to do our part in helping drug dependents reform – especially the youth. With the right guidance, we’re hopeful they can re-enter society with positivity and become productive individuals,” Ang said.

“This is why we are putting a lot of energy and thought into this program. More than just a physical structure, we want this facility to have significant meaning to many families who have been affected by illegal drugs. We hope it will provide former drug users the means to truly change their lives for the better, for good,” he added.