Lapu-Lapu to pay for rehab of indigent drug dependents

INSTEAD of building a rehabilitation center for drug dependents, the Lapu-Lapu City Government has decided to partner with a private rehabilitation center.

This was disclosed by Mayor Junard Chan after the meeting between the City of Lapu-Lapu Office for Substance Abuse and Prevention (C-Losap) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 7.

One of the matters they discussed was the importance of building a facility for drug dependents who cannot afford to go to a private rehab center.

However, the mayor said it will be too expensive to build one and to hire people to man it.

To save on expenses, Chan said the City Government will cooperate with a private rehabilitation center, which has everything in place, including the system and the manpower.

He had in mind the House of Hope in Barangay Gun-ob.

The City will have to sign a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the House of Hope for the program to take off.

Under the MOA, the City will shoulder the expenses of an indigent drug dependent’s stay at the rehab center.

“Dako ta’g ma-save. Wa na tay maintenance. Wa na tay magamit nga mga personnel kay naa naman ang House of Hope. Maka-save ta sa atong lugar kay ang facility naa na sila, and then ang family gibilin (sa drug dependent) kitay mo take care,” Chan said.

(We’ll end up saving a lot. We don’t have to worry about maintenance or personnel since that’s taken care of by the House of Hope. We also save on the lot since we don’t have to put up a facility and then the City will take care of the family of the drug dependent while he is undergoing rehab.)