Drug rehab center finally opens
DRUG dependents in the region who need rehabilitation no longer need to seek help elsewhere.
The country’s newest and modern drug treatment and rehabilitation center in Barangay Bonuan Binloc, Dagupan City officially opened last week after a seven-year wait.
Costing P205 million, the bulk of which came from the Department of Health (DOH), the Drug Treatment and Rehab Center- Dagupan (DTRC-Dagupan) is a world-class drug treatment and rehab facility operated under the Region 1 Medical Center.
Through the initiative of former Speaker Jose De Venecia Jr., the project was launched seven years ago when he was still speaker of the House of Representatives using P16 million of his Priority Development Assistance Fund initially, and was continued by his wife, Fourth District Rep. Gina de Venecia, who allocated another P50 million.
The land on which the center stands was donated by the family of the late Tesoro Manaois initially as a site of the Teodora Manaois Children Hospital.
Among those who graced the inauguration, were Dangerous Drugs Board Undersecretary Edgar Galvante (representing Sec Antonio Villar Jr.), DOH Assistant Secretary Elmer Punzalan, Dagupan City Mayor Belen Fernandez, and former Fifth District Congressman Mark Cojuangco.
To date, the facility is now serving 46 resident-patients, and a hundred outpatients daily coming not only from Pangasinan but La Union, Isabela, Tarlac and even Metro Manila, said Raymund Basbas, administrative officer of the center.
To qualify, patients must secure court orders recommending their treatment for a period of from six to eight months.
The project was completed after the DOH plowed in another P124 million while the DDB contributed P15 million through Mayor Fernandez.
Former Speaker de Venecia said the DTRC-Dagupan is the largest and most modern drug treatment and rehab center in the country patterned after the world -famous Habitat School of Survival in Hawaii.
Dr. Delfin Gubatan Jr., DTRC-Dagupan chief, said the facility adopts the same drug treatment and rehab protocol being given to patients by similar drug treatment and rehabilitation facilities operating in Bicutan, Taguig and Tagaytay.
Rep. De Venecia said the facility will fill in the dire need to treat and rehabilitate drug dependents that now reached 1.7 million according to statistics released by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), making the country with the largest number of drug dependents in East Asia today.
Meanwhile, Mayor Fernandez said while the center will help victims, she warned that the facility is not a refuge for drug offenders who want to escape the punishment of the law.
While personally committing his support to the center, former Congressman Cojuangco said he will rally all Pangasinan mayors to also give their share of support since they also have a stake in the facility.
DTRC-Dagupan is manned by 141 staff, all holding positions in the DOH. (Leonardo Micua)
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