Davide favors more budget for rehab vs drug war

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu Governor Hilario Davide favors an initiative coming from Bayan Muna Party List seeking to realign the 2018 proposed budget allocation for the war on drugs to upgrading hospitals and creating more rehabilitation centers.

Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Isagani Zarate has penned a budget realignment proposal which seeks to restore the slashed budget for public hospitals and cut down the appropriations that fund the war on drugs.

Rather than funding the government programs that have been "criticized to violate human rights," Zarate is moving to realign P3.81 billion appropriated for the anti-drug efforts into treatment and rehabilitation centers.

"That’s good news. We need funds to upgrade them (rehabilitation centers), which is what we’re doing now," Davide said.

Based on the data from the Police Regional Office -7, there are 108,621 drug surrenderers in Cebu since the start of the 'drug war' up to June 2017.

In contrast, there is only one government-owned rehabilitation center in Cebu. It is located in Argao town and is under the supervision of the Department of Health (DOH).

To address this gap, some local government units have devised their own community-based treatment programs, such as in the towns of San Remigio, Sogod, and Argao.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) had proposed only P759.59 million for the rehabilitation of drug addicts and dependents.

Zarate also moved for the deletion of the budget for the anti-drug operations of the Philippine National Police (PNP) called ‘Oplan Double Barrel Reloaded,’ which was allocated with P900 million.

Aside from this, Zarate also eyes to realign the P500 million budget of the Department of Interior and Local Government's Masa-Masid or Mamamayang Ayaw sa Iligal na Droga which was created to serve as a community-based network reporting system where people can send reports about activities related to illegal drugs.

The DOH budget was slashed after 11 donors committed to shouldering the costs of new facilities for the hospitals.

Meanwhile, the Cebu Provincial Government will soon manage its first rehabilitation center in Pinamungajan town. The project is sponsored by a telecommunications company. Construction is set to begin in 2018. (FREEMAN)