COTABATO CITY – A PHP1-million reformatory and treatment center for illegal drug offenders was inaugurated in Maguindanao town, Sultan Kudarat province on Friday.
Led by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PDEA-ARMM) and town officials, the Sultan Kudarat Balay Silangan Reformation Center is an outpatient reformatory and treatment center for drug offenders.
“This is the first-ever reformation and treatment center for drug dependents in the ARMM and was subsidized through funds from the municipal government,” Sultan Kudarat Mayor Shameen Mastura said.
PDEA-ARMM Director Juvenal Azurin said “Balay Silangan” was conceptualized as an alternative intervention for drug personalities who were referred to authorities.
Azurin said the facility will function as a livelihood training, after-care and social reintegration programs through coordination among the local government unit, national government agencies, and private sector.
“I would like to congratulate the LGU (local government unit) of Sultan Kudarat for giving your constituents new hope, a new beginning, and a new life,” Azurin said, adding that at least 800 drug personalities in Maguindanao are beneficiaries of rehabilitation services from the facility.
He said PDEA-ARMM would help oversee the operation of the reformatory center.
“Drug dependents need help and not condemnation for getting involved in illegal drugs, and their coming out in the open is an indication they want to reform and the Balay Silangan is their vehicle (a) to a new life,” Azurin said. (Edwin Fernandez/PNA)
