Avoiding another white elephant

A recent news article that came out in a national daily announced that he Department of Health (DoH) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on Thursday led the ground-breaking for a five-hectare, P877-million drug-rehabilitation facility in Osorio village in Trece Martires City, Cavite.

It was reported the said drug rehabilitation facility is part of a program for Consolidated Rehabilitation of Illegal Drug Users (CARE) Project which is funded by the Japanese government.

There is really nothing wrong with the project or even program but nonetheless it should be noted that there seems to be no coordination done or even advice obtained from the primary agency tasked to supervise the compliance with policies on the drug campaign. The concerned agency here is the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) which has the following functions among others, “xxx, h. Design and develop, in consultation and coordination with the DOH, DSWD and other agencies involved in drugs control, treatment and rehabilitation, both public and private, a national treatment and rehabilitation program for drug dependents including a standard aftercare and community service program for recovering drug dependents; xxx.”

Very clearly, from the above function of the DDB it should have been involved or at the very least made a supervisory and coordinating partner for the said project. However, it would appear that the project funded by the Japan government was placed under the supervision of the Department of Health which should be alright since what is required is the treatment of the drug depended. But then again, what about the overall aspect of the program to rehabilitate and treat drug users under the said project and program was the DBP consulted on the matter? Was the said agency an integral part of the plan for the establishment of the said drug rehabilitation center in Cavite?

These are questions that need to be answered considering the controversy over another drug rehabilitation center that was put up in Nueva Ecija in 2017.

It should be recalled that the former DDB Chairman Dionisio Santiago opined that the rehab center in Nueva Ecija was impractical and the money spent to construct the Mega Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Center in Fort Magsaysay in Palayan City could have been used to fund smaller community-based anti-narcotics programs which have been proven to be effective.

We also need to ask why the rush to build another big drug rehabilitation center when there has yet been no update whatsoever whether the facility in Nueve Ecija has been put to effective use, otherwise, we might just have another white elephant in the making.

Of course we all want to rehabilitate our drug dependents in the country since we consider them as victims of this vile menace to society. But it is also equally important to implement a balance approach in rehabilitating them such as looking out to their welfare after they have been treated. The 877 million pesos could be better used in providing livelihood assistance to those drug users who have been rehabilitated but are jobless and will be looking for work.

There is still time for DOH and JICA to reconsider their project and perhaps find a better use for the amount that they intended for another rehabilitation center.

Sideglance

Amianan Balita Ngayon