THE winner of this year’s national search for hometown heroes of the Benito and Catalina Yap Foundation (BCYF) is a Cebuana advocate for the rehabilitation of drug addicts.
Fe Mantuhac-Barino, chairperson of the committee on laity of the Archdiocese of Cebu, was recognized as a hometown hero for her “Surrender to God (SuGOD) Drug Recovery and Renewal Program.”
The virtual awarding ceremony took place on Monday, Nov. 30, 2020.
Barino said she established SuGOD in her hometown of Barangay Yati, Liloan, Cebu in 2016 as part of the Catholic Church’s response to the government’s war on illegal drugs.
She said winning the award was unexpected, but she believed that it was God’s will.
“I just feel so glad that even during the pandemic, this award came about to remind people of how important (it is) to take care of them (drug dependents) and not to judge them because these people have dignity and they deserve a chance to recover and renew their life,” she said.
The search is a flagship citizenship project of the BCYF, which aims to recognize individuals who go out of their way to help their communities.
Since it was established, the program has catered to around 2,000 drug addicts from all over Cebu, including those inside the Cebu City Jail Male Dormitory.
She said they were able to help a number of stay-out illegal drug dependents who wanted to change for the better during the first two years of the program.
The number, however, dropped when the government started to roll out its community-based rehabilitation program in the barangays. They, then, decided to bring the program to the Cebu City Jail Male Dormitory, she said.
The SuGOD program, Barino said, offers a psycho-spiritual intervention for illegal drug dependents, which can last for about six to 10 straight days followed by a continuing care program, for at least once or thrice a week, until the person is “strong enough” to be on his own.
She said part of the counseling and coaching session, which often takes place in parishes or sometimes in malls, is teaching them about the scientific aspect of addiction so they will know the disadvantages of being a slave to illegal drugs.
“We combine it with spiritual counseling since we found out that it’s really effective,” she said in a mix of English and Cebuano.
Although SuGOD started as a private initiative, she said, various organizations and sectors such as the church and lay communities contributed by sending volunteers.
As of now, she said the program has four full-time staff who took courses and are accredited drug addiction professionals.
Barino said most of them have tried drugs with one coach being a product of the SuGOD program.
Before starting with the program, she said she had doubts since she had never worked with drug dependents before. She got in touch with a friend who runs a rehabilitation center in Ozamiz City and consulted with Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma whom she thanked for being very supportive of the initiative.
She said Pope Francis recognized the SuGOD initiative during her visit to the Vatican in 2017.
She hopes this award will inspire others to embark on a similar advocacy in their communities. (WBS)