SEEING the need for additional drug rehabilitation facilities in Cebu, Globe Telecom has partnered with the Provincial Government for the establishment of a reform center.
A year after Project New Life Center broke ground in the southwestern town of Pinamungajan, the facility is almost ready to help address the growing need for treatment and care for drug surrenderers.
Globe turned over the project to the Provincial Government Wednesday, June 19, 2019.
Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III said the facility will provide a supportive environment and a refuge of healing for drug surrenderers.
The center will be managed by a team of doctors and psychiatrists and will be supervised by the Capitol through the Cebu Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Office (Cpadao).
It is the first rehab facility in Cebu supervised by the Province.
According to Cpadao consultant Manuel Pocholo de los Santos, Project New Life will be fully operational by the fourth quarter of 2019.
It will cater to drug surrenderers who are already showing signs of mental illness due to drug addiction for at least six months, or depending on the severity of their condition.
De los Santos said the initial plan is to charge a fee of at least P15,000 per month so the Capitol can maintain the facility.
Located within the Jose Maria Borromeo Memorial District Hospital compound, the 2,600-square-meter facility has a 106-bed capacity with open spaces and a recreation room.
It has separate male and female wards for in-house patients and a psychiatric ward with 18 rooms.
It also features a doctor’s office, a nurse’s station, a treatment and stabilization room, a kitchen, a dining room, a clinic and a hotel-like reception area.
As part of Globe Telecom’s sustainability commitment to a clean and safe environment, Globe VisMin External Affairs Officer Patrick Gloria said the building is equipped with solar panel roof tiles.
The facility also makes use of eco-pavers for the garden floors and recreation area as well as eco-bricks for the perimeter fences.
Eco-bricks and pavers are made from a combination of construction materials and waste plastic laminates.
Globe will also provide internet connectivity to the facility’s offices. It will enable Virtualahan, a Davao-based social enterprise, to implement their online modules to help drug surrenderers become productive citizens.
The Capitol, on the other hand, will hire the psychiatrists.
For his part, Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino said the facility is a “very big step” in the war against illegal drugs.
He promised to tap the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to provide vocational courses for drug surrenderers.