The PHP35-million Bacolod City Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Center (BCDTRC) is expected to open next year as about 75 percent of the facility has already been constructed.
City officials announced this during the turnover of PHP5-million augmentation fund from Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) by chief cashier Melanie Castillo to Mayor Evelio Leonardia during their meeting at the Bacolod Government Center recently.
“This is a big occasion for us that we are able to receive a PHP5-million check. This is a second installment. We are very thankful. It is an inspiration in the anti-drug campaign that Bacolod is just one of the first, if not the few, which has received this assistance. We thank DDB chairman Catalino Cuy for giving priority to Bacolod,” the mayor said.
Castillo said the DDB uses its special fund, sourced from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, and Philippine Racing Commission, for the construction of drug rehabilitation centers all over the Philippines.
In Western Visayas, Bacolod is the only local government unit (LGU) so far that has received assistance from the DDB in establishing such kind of treatment facility, she added.
Project engineer Loben Rafael Castillo said the constructed portion includes the male and female dormitories that can accommodate some 50 patients.
“These (dorms) can be completed probably in one month. There are still other structures that will be constructed,” he added.
The BCDTRC, which is situated on a city government-owned property in Barangay Alijis, has an administration building and mess building, which are also being constructed now. A multipurpose hall and pavilion will also be added.
Samuel Montoyo, focal person of the city’s anti-drug abuse campaign, said the date of opening is not yet definite, but it could be scheduled next year once the construction is completed.
“Within 2020, I believe it will already be operational,” he said.
During his visit here last October, Undersecretary Earl Saavedra, executive director of DDB, said the additional budget is the agency’s commitment to Leonardia for the establishment of a state-of-the-art rehabilitation facility.
The groundbreaking, which was held in August last year, was attended by Cuy, who signed a memorandum of agreement with Leonardia for the release of the initial PHP10-million financial assistance.
The remaining fund requirement is being shouldered by the city government.
Bacolod is also working with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in putting up the soon-to-be opened Balay Silangan drug reformation center.
The facility, located alongside the Bacolod City Police Office compound in Barangay Singcang-Airport, is worth PHP5 million. (Nanette Guadalquiver pna via ndb)