Drug rehab center mulled
BACOLOD City - The Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) is considering putting up a drug rehabilitation center in this city, said DDB executive director Maria Belen Matibag.
Matibag disclosed that the plan is yet to be finalized “because there is a proper procedure to be followed.”
In an earlier report, Councilor Caesar Distrito, chairman of committee on appropriations and finance, said he received an email from Melanie Castillo, head of DDB Administrative and Finance Management Division, informing him that the agency is allotting P15 million for the construction of a rehabilitation center in this city.
Cong. Greg Gasataya also said in a separate report that the DDB has allocated P20 million for the rehabilitation center here.
According to Matibag, the agency is currently facing a problem for they have no chairman and they only have three regular members of the board.
The board as of now cannot approve the funding for the construction because they need to have a collegial decision, she explained.
She added they need to complete the members of the board for them to have a quorum to come up with recommendations as to who should be given funding for drug treatment and rehabilitation center construction.
Matibag also said t he reported incidents of drug use in Bacolod are not much compared to other regions.
If the local government unit ( LGU) is interested to put up a drug rehabilitation center, they should submit a Notice of Intent to DDB and documentary requirements, she said, stressing that this city has no pending application in their office.
Furthermore, the DDB executive director clarified that their organization gives funds for the construction of the center, but the maintenance, operation and manpower requirements should come from the LGUs.
“It is easy to construct a rehab center, but [the question is] how it will be sustained … so we need a guarantee on how it should be run,” Matibag said.
Mayor Evelio Leonardia disclosed DDB has pledged P30 million for the construction of the center, but “it was all in