Congestion in drug rehab center starting
WORSENED BY PLEA BARGAIN AGREEMENT
SEVEN years after it became fully operational, the Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Center (DTRC) of the Department of Health in Dagupan City is now beginning to experience congestion much like jail facilities in the district.
This was bared by Raymond Basbas, DTRC administrative officer, when he appeared before the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Dagupan during its regular session last week, July 23.
DCRTC’s Basbas. (Punchphoto by Butch Uka)
He said DTRC, the first and only government-own drug rehabilitation facility in Northern Luzon which has a 300-bed capacity, is already catering to 434 in-patients in addition to the more than 400 outpatients weekly.
At the rate the campaign vs. illegal drugs is going, Basbas said the facility is getting more in-patients from Dagupan and Pangasinan but also from other cities and provinces in Region 1 and the Cordillera Administrative Region before it can release some.
The center’s rehab population swelled with the new plea bargaining framework promulgated by the Supreme Court that arrested suspects for drug possession where drug suspects can plead for a lesser offense provided he undergoes and completes a drug rehabilitation.
Consequently, Basbas said DTRC became a “second class BJMP” (Bureau of Jail Management and Penology) facility.
Meanwhile, he said only Dagupan City government has signed a memorandum of agreement with DTRC to cover part of the cost of rehabilitating its indigent citizens following the spirit of R.A 9165 (Comprehensive Anti-Drug Law). Basbas urged other towns to allocate funds for the rehab of their constituents.
Ideally, he said the cost of drug rehabilitation must be shared by three institutions–the LGU, the family and DTRC.
Basbas said the residential patients who avail of the plea bargaining process undergo a six- month treatment while those who voluntarily submit themselves pay for their rehab and can opt for minimum 6-12 month rehabilitation up to 18 months aftercare.
Unfortunately and in most instances, he said those who merely availed of the plea bargain to escape jail detention are those that quickly return to the streets.
Councilor Jose Netu Tamayo, chairman of the committee on laws and ordinances of the Dagupan SP, echoed the observation by sharing police reports that most of those being arrested lately by the police are repeat offenders.
P/Lt. Colonel Abubakar Mangelen Jr., chief of police of Dagupan City, reported that half of the 17 suspects they arrested from June 25 to July 21, availed of the plea bargaining process.
Mangelen said he appealed to a judge of the Regional Trial Court in Dagupan to review the plea bargaining process as most who availed of it just returned to their practice upon completing a 6-month treatment.
Basbas opined that the rehabilitated pusher returns to the streets because they have no livelihood skills and do not have family support. (Leonardo Micua)
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