THE City Government of Bacolod is now prioritizing the completion of the construction of Balay Silangan so it can start processing the declaration of a drug-free barangay in the city.
Executive Assistant Samuel Montoyo, point person of the City’s anti-drug abuse campaign, said Friday, March 15, the pre-bidding and pre-conference for the construction of Balay Silangan, with the total budget of P5 million, were held last Thursday.
“We already recommended five barangays to be declared drug-free barangays, but it’s part of the requirements of the inter-committee on anti-illegal drugs that the City Government should have a Balay Silangan,” he said.
Balay Silangan, the national drug reformation program, offers temporary refuge with the objection of reforming drug offenders into self-sufficient and law-abiding members of society.
Last year, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) has chosen Bacolod City as one of the pilot sites of the Balay Silangan Reformation Program in the country.
“We were chosen because of our active support in the government’s anti-drug campaign,” Montoyo said.
He said the Balay Silangan will accommodate drug personalities selected for a three-month in-house reformation program.
“This is an urgent project of Bacolod so we can declare two or more barangays as drug-cleared barangays. We are hopeful that this project will be completed this year,” he added.
PDEA earlier revealed that all 61 barangays in Bacolod City are affected by illegal drugs.
PDEA-Western Visayas Director Alex Tablate said that while all barangays in Bacolod City were found to have been affected by drugs, they were only “moderately affected” in terms of categorization. This classification means that there is a reported presence of drug pusher/s and user/s in the area.
“The pushers need to be rehabilitated in a center called BalaySilangan, the building of which is already being rehabilitated. Once it is done, all drug surrenderers will be gathered for rehabilitation. That would be the start of the processing for the declaration of a drug-free barangay,” Tablate said.