700 drug dependents get free rehab

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — More than 700 drug dependents have already completed the rehabilitation program in Negros Island Region, as of December last year, records of the Police Regional Office-18 showed.

Nine local government units joined the Negros Occidental provincial government in the rehabilitation of drug dependents who surrendered to the police last year, in line with its Oplan Double Barrel campaign at the time.

From July to December last year, records showed a total of 11,657 drug personalities surrendered to police stations, supervised by the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office, with 10,856 of them drug users,

The nine LGUs that conducted their localized community-based rehab program last year were the cities of Bacolod, Victorias, Sagay, Cadiz, Kabankalan, Silay and San Carlos, and the towns of Murcia and Ilog, on top of a Wellness Camp program initiated by the Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Council, according to action officer Maria Lina Sanogal.

Last week, the fourth batch of drug dependents, numbering 45, also completed a week-long rehabilitation program of the City Drug Abuse Council of Kabankalan, the police said.

Sixty other drug dependents in Murcia, four barangays of which were recently declared as drug-cleared, will also start their rehabilitation — called 1st Step Recovery Program — on March 13, said Senior Inspector Hector Balbon, Murica Police officer-in-charge.

The NIR was the first to conduct the Anti-Illegal Drugs Summit, while the Negros Occidental provincial government has a P5-million budget for the rehabilitation of drug dependents in the province. (FREEMAN)