“Addict” earns chance to turn his life around
Illegal drugs use was no easy trap to escape from – a trap Jomil Velasquez managed to overcome only after 12 years.
It was when he sought help from a drug recovery program, which also provides spiritual intervention that guided the 26-year-old father towards a renewed life, that he managed to turn back a life that was going for the worse.
“Dugay nako nangandoy nga mausab nako akong kaugalingon. Ako naman nasuwayan mag-self rehab pero dili nako kaya gyud,” he said. His barkadas’ bad influence always made him take up the addicting vice again.
Jomil was raised in the slums of Barangay Subangdako, Mandaue City. He first used illegal drugs when he was in first year high school out of curiousity, and tried again until he got hooked.
Left to fend for himself, he got acquainted with the “big guys” in the illegal drug network in their barangay.
“Nagkaungo ko sa akong bisyo. Nag-abot-abot ang problema,” he recalled.
Because of drug addiction, he got separated from his live-in partner, who was bearing their first child – a devastating consequence especially for him who came from a broken family.
When the Duterte administration declared war on illegal drugs and adopted Oplan Tokhang (Toktok hangyo), where the police and government officials knock on the doors of suspected drug pushers and users and urge them to mend their ways, he was among those who “surrendered” to barangay officials.
In Central Visayas alone, over 105,000 individuals surrendered to authorities since the anti-illegal drug campaign started last year until it was suspended last month.
The huge number overwhelmed the government, which at the start already lacked inpatient drug rehabilitation facilities. This made the Church and faith-based organizations to offer help by facilitating community-based rehabilitation programs, which incorporates spiritual intervention for a more holistic approach.
Jomil sought refuge from “Labang” (means “to cross” in Cebuano) one of the communitybased drug recovery programs, resulting to a change in his life and his views about life.
In a figurative sense, the program helped Velasquez cross from a disastrous life because of drug addiction to a recovering state.
Labang (short for Lahat Bangon), requires the involvement of different sectors of society to fully sustain its implementation.
Piloted in Subangdaku, Labang was the initiative of the Ugnayan ng mga Barangay at Simbahan (UBAS), a program of the Department of the Interior and Local Government Dilaab Foundation Inc. and other government entities and non-government organizations.
The struggle, though, is not yet over for Jomil. After he enrolled in the program last December 2016, he must carry on for a year for him to be fully weaned away from illegal drugs.
“Nakamatngon na ‘ko sa kamatuoran nga sayop akong gibuhat sa una,” he said. He had Labang to thank for the changes in his life.
“Pag-abot sa Labang, dako na’g kausaban sa akong kinabuhi. Daghan na ang blessings naabot,” he said.
This early, his effort to reform has been slowly being rewarded. Last February 16, he was reunited for the first time with his now six-year-old son.
“Mao to ang pinakanindot nga nahitabo sa akong kinabuhi. Since birth, wala ko kakita sa akong anak…. Maoy pangandoy nako sa akong kinabuhi nga makakita ko sa akong bata bisan ka-usa lang unta,” he said, recalling that experience made him burst into tears.
He was also able to reconcile with his partner, adding more reason for him to persevere and succeed in his rehabilitation program, for the future of his own family.
“Part sa programa nga mangayo og pasaylo sa mga tawo nga imong nasad-an. Mao to nangayo ko og pasaylo niya. Nakadawat siya nako. Iya kong giingnan nga hopefully magpadayon ko sa pag-usab sa akong kinabuhi,” Jomil said. He said his partner told him that granting he would find a job after the program, she may again accept him.
He urged other drug addicts to give themselves another chance to mend their ways and turn their lives around by following what he did.
“Dili pa uwahi ang tanan. Makaya pa mag-usab. Pag-ampo lang sa Ginoo. Part sa atong kinabuhi nga adunay problema. Importante lang nga aduna tay salig sa Ginoo,” he said.
Yesterday, Jomil was one of those who participated in Dilaab Foundation’s feeding program.
Father Carmelo Diola, Dilaab executive director, said nearly 400 individuals from different parishes and communities and from Labang’s recovering drug users took part in the event, which was held at the the IC3 (IEC Convention Center Cebu, formerly the IEC Pavilion).
The activity was primarily aimed at bringing together first communicants, who were street children, of the 51st International Eucharistic Congress. Diola served as chairman of the Committee on Solidarity and Communion of the IEC, which took place in Cebu in January 2016.
“The 51st IEC is not just an event, it is a continuing journey,” said Diola in describing the significance of the gathering. —
May B. Miasco / RHM