Trade fair nets P2M for drug surrenderers

A BAGUIO City official who asserted the month-long trade fair within portions of the Juan Luna Drive in Burnham Park was able to generate some P2 million.

The fund will be used by the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) to bankroll the various programs and interventions for the hundreds of persons with substance use disorders (PSUDs) undergoing rehabilitation with the concerned department of the local government.

Councilor Leandro Yangot, Jr., chairman of the committee on market, trade, commerce and agriculture, said the City Social Welfare and Development Office proposed the trade fair to generate additional resources that will be used for the various programs and interventions for the increasing number of PSUDs seeking refuge from the said office.

Yangot pointed out the conduct of the month-long trade fair in a portion of the Burnham Park is one of the most feasible way of generating the needed resources for the PSUDs instead of painstakingly waiting for the provision of funding support from the local government which will surely take some time considering that the funds for the office were already allocated for specific purposes year round.

Earlier, the local legislative body approved a resolution authorizing the conduct of a month-long trade fair along Juan Luna Drive purposely to generate some P2 million for the programs and projects lined up by the CSWDO for the PSUDs.

“We want to extend our utmost assistance to the concerned department catering to the rehabilitation needs of our persons with substance use disorders that is why the fastest way to generate the available resources to allow them to undergo the needed rehabilitation that will give them a chance to be reformed individuals and be brought back to the mainstream society in the coming months,” Yangot stressed.

Yangot pointed out what happened last year where the whole amount of P2 million was not deposited by the trade fair operator to the CSWDO will not be repeated because one of the conditions imposed by the local legislative body for the existing trade fair operators to advance the lease rental and deposit the same to the account of the CSWDO before the start of the activity.

Further, Yangot added part of the proceeds of the trade fair will be given to the dialysis patients currently undergoing treatment at the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) which will be the contribution of the city officials to their dialysis treatment.

The alderman claimed before Mayor Mauricio Domogan signed the resolution authorizing the conduct of the month-long trade fair, city officials consulted the affected vendors in Burnham Park.

The city market emphasized that the activity was primarily intended to have a social cause, specifically the generation of sufficient resources that could be used for the programs and projects lined up for the rehabilitation of the PSUDs for them to be able to be brought back to mainstream society and live a normal life with the members of their families. (Dexter See)