Drug surrenderers’ children get school supplies from COSAP

As part of its Balik Skwela Program, 225 children of drug surrenderers received school supplies from the Cebu City Office for Substance Abuse Prevention (COSAP) at the Cebu City Social Hall yesterday.

Though the children were not all present, their parents were there to claim the school bags each containing seven notebooks.

COSAP Chief Garry Lao said his office allocated half a million for the purchase of school supplies.

He said COSAP will distribute the remaining bags to the children during their barangay-based operations.

"This is one way of showing that the city government is not only taking care of our drug surrenderers, but also their families,” he said.

The distribution of school supplies to drug surrenderers’ children was a pilot program of COSAP.

Aside from educational supplies, COSAP has also given job opportunities to drug surrenderers, who are not working at the City Hall.

A drug surrenderer, Jay (not his real name), thanked COSAP for its initiatives, including the five-kilo rice subsidy.

Lao said his office is planning to increase the rice subsidy this year to 10 kilos from five.

Moreover, COSAP is set to conduct a site visit in Budlaan, an upland village of Cebu City, for the city’s proposed community rehabilitation.

Last year, Lao asked Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) to use at least five hectares of its property in Sitio Maomawan located in between Barangays Bonbon and Babag for the rehab center.

But TIEZA has yet to respond to his request, said Lao.