Five drug rehabilitation centers are set to be constructed in five areas in Palawan to provide care and assistance to people addicted to illegal drugs.
Provincial Information Officer Gil Acosta Jr. said the plan to build the rehabilitation facilities is in response to President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug crusade and to address the rising number of drug dependents and peddlers, who have surrendered under Oplan Tokhang.
Based on current record of the Palawan Provincial Police Office, around 3,446 have voluntary surrendered and many of them need intervention to recover from addiction.
The rehab centers, the information officer said, are being proposed for construction in Puerto Princesa City, Brooke’s Point in southern Palawan, and San Vicente, Culion and El Nido in the north.
The proposed areas were identified based on the number of residents who voluntary surrendered.
“First that was considered was the number of those who volunteered to turn themselves in; what are we going to do with them? And we are also focusing on tourist destinations,” Acosta said.
In Puerto Princesa, he disclosed that the goal is to establish a 300-bed capacity rehab facility in Barangay Irawan. The identified municipalities, on the other hand, will have 150-bed capacity each.
All the centers will cater to both men and women clients, including minors, according to Acosta.
This year, the target is to begin the construction of at least two rehabilitation facilities, he said.
The drug rehabilitation centers' construction will be under the partnership of the Palawan provincial government, the Department of Health (DOH)-MIMAROPA Region, and the non-government Hopeburst Recovery Hub Foundation.(Catherine A. Santos/PNA)
