CABANATUAN CITY -- Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director Aaron Aquino vowed to clear the entire nation of prohibited drugs by 2022.
Aquino made the statement during the inauguration of the fully equipped Balay Silangan, a localized reformation center in the city, on May 24. He was with Mayor Julius Cesar Vergara and other officials.
Aquino said he stands with the PDEA's vow to finish drug menace in the country by 2022 as ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte.
"Napakahirap. Hindi ko rin alam kung paano maki-clear by 2022 but we have plans for it," Aquino said, as he urged newly elected barangay officials to keep working with the PDEA and the police in the fight against illegal drugs.
As of now, the provinces of Batanes, Southern Leyte, Biliran and Romblon were declared drug cleared, Aquino said.
He said Cabanatuan City is declared as a pilot for drug clearing.
Aquino also acknowledged that merely over 200 of the 3,300 confessed drug addicts who surrendered to authorities since the first wave of the government's anti-illegal drugs template Oplan Tokhang have graduated from the localized reformation center, but he assured the public of a plan to rid the country of drugs.
He said the graduates from this city were a portion of the 25,000 drug users who have finished a comprehensive rehabilitation program in Central Luzon, where centers then called Bahay Pagbabago were established during his charge as regional director of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Vergara pledged to put up a bigger space for Balay Silangan that will fast-track reformation program. The present one houses 30 drug users who will undertake reformation program for a minimum of three months.
The patients shall have to undergo, spiritual, psycho social, physical and livelihood training, said Aquino.
Vergara said the City Government would allocate fund from its P263-million surplus for the new house. (Ric Sapnu)