AN OFFICIAL of the Cagayan de Oro City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWD) said it is crafting a matrix or set of guidelines on how to handle minors caught in police anti-illegal drugs operations.
CSWD head Teddy Sabuga-a said there is a need to come up with protocols that would guide police and other law enforcement officers in handling minors during illegal drugs and other police operations.
Sabuga-a also urged parents who have children who habitually use illegal drugs to come forward or come immediately to their office for free medical assistance.
"If we see the need nga kinahanglan i-rehab ang bata (to rehabilitate the child), then we will send them to our facility in Puerto, for free, kami na ang mo-handle sa children kay kritikal man gud dapat ang pag-handle sa ila kay posible naay violation kay minor man, angay gyud bantayan," Sabuga-a said.
In August this year, three minors in Barangay Macabalan were caught acting as couriers or "runners" of the illegal drugs for their parents.
"Alarming gyud kaayo ang participation sa mga bata sa illegal drugs dinhi so kinahanglan gyud nga naay intervention ug aftercare ani sa ila," Sabuga-a said.
Sabuga-a said in its intervention program, they will not only treat the individual affected of drugs, but also the family, and the community.
"Ang atong treatment or intervention composed of 3, ang individual nga affected, ang pamilya kay inig ka-rehab niya unya pag-abot sa pamilya pareha lang gihapon negative ang atmosphere so mabalewala ang atong efforts, and third is ang community nga naa untay sense of acceptability," Sabuga-a said.
Meanwhile, Dr. Benson Go, chief of the Department of Health-Cagayan de Oro's Treatment and Rehabilitation Center in Upper Puerto, said its facility is ready for more admissions.
"Nag-stabilize naman ang atong number of admissions, daghan siya pero makaya lang, pero we will of course prioritize ang out-patient and community-based treatment kay dili man pud tanan siguro ipang-admit nalang nato," Go said.
The DOH-Cagayan de Oro and the City Government are part of the interfaith Coalition for a Drug-Free Society spearheaded by the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro.