ILOILO CITY — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has vowed to bring the “Yakap Bayan” program to the Visayas to help drug surrenderers acquire skills and become community servants.
DSWD Assistant Secretary Jose Antonio R. Hernandez, who presented the program during Friday’s “Rehabinasyon” roadshow in this city, said “Yakap Bayan” was piloted in northern Philippines and adopted in the Cordillera region to ensure its effective implementation when brought to other parts of the country.
“Yakap Bayan” aims to connect the programs of local government units with those of other agencies, such as the police, the military, and the labor department, in an effort to capacitate former drug dependents and turn them into productive community leaders, advocates, and volunteers.
“Mahirap dito sa Central Visayas, pupunta ka dito na hindi pa siya tested (It is difficult to bring the program here in Central Visayas without being tested),” he said in a press conference after the road show and town hall meeting.
“Now, we have models up north and down south, so, ngayon dito naman sa (now, here in) Central Visayas. Nag-establish lang muna tayo para pagdating dito, proven na siya (We paved the way, so that once it is here, it has already been proven),” he added.
Hernandez vowed to return here within the month.
Reports last December showed that former drug dependents from Quezon province, under “Yakap Bayan” program, participated in a moving up ceremony after finishing a six-month rehabilitation program that featured psychosocial interventions, disaster response training, and skills and leadership training, apart from detoxification and medical treatment.
A total of 85 campers from the Pagbabago at Pag-asa Reflection Camp in Lucban and 192 “Yakap Bayan” Project United Stand against Dangerous Drugs in Lucena City were recognized for their dedication and commitment to serve their respective communities and shun the dangers of drug addiction.
Hernandez said the program would bring together concerned agencies, such as the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, and departments of agriculture and health, among others, not only in providing interventions in terms of rehabilitation and after-care of drug surrenderers but also for their reintegration into the community.
Based on data from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 6 (Western Visayas), the region has yielded 37,222 drug surrenderers since the start of the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
Negros Occidental has the highest with 11,868; followed by Iloilo with 7, 955; Capiz (5,505); Bacolod City (4,054); Iloilo City (3,380); Aklan (1,975); Antique (1,738); and Guimaras (747). (Cindy Ferrer/PNA)
