THE City Government of Bacolod has started the construction of Balay Silangan in Barangay Singcang-Airport, Bacolod City last week.
Executive Assistant Samuel Montoyo, point person of the City’s anti-drug abuse campaign, said Wednesday, June 5, 2019 the City Engineer’s Office already checked and started the construction of Balay Silangan.
He said the Balay Silangan has a total budget of P5 million.
“We cannot declare a drug free barangay if we do not have a reformatory center,” he added.
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.
In 2018, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chose Bacolod City as one of the pilot sites of the Balay Silangan Reformation Program in the country.
Montoyo said the contractor of Bacolod City Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Center project in Barangay Alijis will also start their construction this month.
He said the City Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Center project has a total budget of P35 million.
“This is one of the priority projects of Mayor Evelio Leonardia that the city government is very serious in the campaign against illegal drugs,” he added.
In 2018, Dangerous Drugs Board chairman Catalino Cuy led the ground-breaking rites of the drug rehabilitation facility at the City Government-owned lot at the City Agriculture Office Demo Farm in Barangay Alijis.
The rehabilitation center will have an administration building, male and female quarters, multi-purpose and mess building and pavilion. It will be constructed with a bed capacity of 52 people. (MAP)