THE Diocese of Dumaguete will donate 14 hectares of land in Amlan, Negros Oriental, for a drug rehabilitation facility to cater to the numerous “drug addicts” who had surrendered to the Philippine National Police (PNP) in the province over the past several weeks.
Fr. Ben Eric Lozada, diocesan clergy president, said that Dumaguete Bishop Julito Cortes and the Board of Consultors have approved in principle the donation.
“This is a concrete response of the Church” to the government’s ongoing campaign to rid the streets of illegal drugs, Fr. Lozada said.
He pointed out the need for the Church to step in and offer the drug addicts another chance at life by recovering through a program offered to them at the proposed rehabilitation center.
Lozada said the donation is “borne out of prayer,” as he has “heard the cry of the drug addicts,” referring to the many who have voluntarily surrendered to the police but who are not provided with options to get out of their addiction and live a normal life again.
The priest lamented that some of those who have surrendered are being killed or warned of the risk of being shot dead if they returned to the illegal drugs trade.
“They don’t understand the way of a drug addict trying to be sober,” said Fr. Lozada, who has had ample experience working with addicts while in the United States several years back.
Fr. Lozada said it is difficult for a drug addict to go through the withdrawal symptoms and that person needs a place for that.
Being incarcerated at a prison facility is not what a drug addict needs but somewhere where he can be rehabilitated, Fr. Lozada added.
And it is at a drug rehabilitation center where a drug addict can discover and claim his higher power and overcome the feeling of defeat by illegal drugs, according to the priest.
The tract of land to be donated is located in Barangay Silab in Amlan town and it is now available for use, Lozada said.
The facility will be patterned after the Facenda de Esperanza Rehabilitation Center in Masbate, which caters to young drug and alcohol addicts, he said.
The rehabilitation center will cater to the poor and those who cannot afford to pay the expensive rehabilitation programs offered by private institutions, added Fr. Lozada.
He said a minimal fee will be charged from those wanting to enroll in the program, which will not be utilizing pharmaceutical medication for drug rehabilitation.
The program to be adopted or fashioned after Facenda de Esperanza will use a different intervention, with initially at least three core areas, namely, prayer/spirituality, community life and manual work, Fr. Lozada said.
He said the diocese hopes to collaborate with the local government units in the future, once the finer details have already been finalized.
He also said that Amlan Vice Mayor Bentham dela Cruz already signified his intention of working with the diocese in whatever way possible for the realization of the project.
Asked how soon can the diocese take off with the drug rehabilitation center, Fr. Lozada said anytime this year if there would be enough takers for the project. (PNA)