De Lima wants probe into drug rehab facility projects

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Leila de Lima asked for a Senate inquiry into the propriety of planned constructions of more massive drug rehabilitation centers, citing the supposed failure of the first large-scale drug facility in Nueva Ecija.  

De Lima filed Senate Resolution 630, saying the government was unsuccessful in utilizing the mega drug rehab center in Fort Magsaysay in Palayan City, Nueva Ecija. This, she said, has raised questions about the effectiveness of similar facilities in treating drug addiction.

“There is, therefore, a need to ensure that the government would not be pouring millions of public funds down the drain with nothing to show for it due to a poorly thought-out rehabilitation program that is merely edifice-centric, rather than people- and community-centric,” De Lima said.

She added: “Without a clear policy behind the utilization of these mega-facilities, we might end up having all these structures that our government maintains without achieving any defined and lasting goals, thereby wasting funds which would have been better appropriated elsewhere.”

READ: DDB chief: Nueva Ecija drug rehab facility a 'mistake,' 'impractical'

Last year, former Dangerous Drugs Board Chairman Dionisio Santiago said that the 10,000-bed mega drug rehab facility in Nueva Ecija was a “mistake” and “impractical.”

He noted that the money spent to construct the center could have been used to fund smaller community-based anti-narcotics programs, which are proven to be more effective.

Santiago’s criticisms of the Nueva Ecija drug rehab center prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to sack him.

The drug treatment facility was donated by Chinese real estate billionaire Huang Rulun to curb the drug menace, which he called “the common enemy of mankind.”

READ: Duterte inaugurates mega drug rehab facility in Nueva Ecija

Palace Communications Secretary Martin Andanar last year said that the government was planning to build two mega drug rehab centers in Visayas and Mindanao through donations of businessmen.

“Although on paper it seems that these facilities are purely funded by donations from foreign donors, [but] in reality, the expenses that have to be incurred to operationalize them do not stop at simply building them, as it would require millions of pesos in taxpayers’ money to staff, supply and maintain such facilities every single day thereafter,” De Lima said.

De Lima was arrested and detained over drug-related charges.

The detained senator was accused of protecting and coddling drug traders inside the New Bilibid Prison during her stint as Justice secretary. She has repeatedly denied the charges.