Support to Bohol’s First Drug Rehab Center – the Continuing Saga

For The Bohol Tribune

In This Our Journey

NESTOR MANIEBO PESTELOS

First, I must relay to you the happy news that the Diocese of Tagbilaran is supporting in concrete ways, not only by verbal advocacy and rhetoric as other sectors do, the rehabilitation of drug abuse victims in Bohol. Our NGO, the Bohol Local Development Foundation (BLDF), has been assured by Fr. Val Pinlac, who heads the Secretariat of the Vatican-funded Bohol Rebuild and Rehabilitation Project, that we can send trainees to their existing livelihood skills training program.

These trainees may come from our primary target group, the hundreds of out-of-school youth who are particularly vulnerable to enticements that lead to drug abuse and eventually to unproductive and potentially destructive crime-driven life.

We have been assured that those who recover from treatment at Bohol’s first drug rehab center, the FARM It Works Balay Kahayag (FITWBK) facility, may also be recommended to undergo training and, equally important, apply for post-training support, such as provision of tools and other necessary start-up requirements.

Fr. Pinlac and his team have also endorsed us to a donor, the US-based For Better Tomorrow (FBT), so BLDF can be supported in its advocacy that drug abuse victims from poor families be provided financial assistance to enable them to access treatment services at FITWBK. Hundreds of such victims cannot afford to be treated in Cebu and other places outside the province due to high costs of treatment and associated expense items, e.g., fare, food and accommodation or expenses associated with visit of parents normally required to attend orientation and briefing sessions each month.

The proposal, endorsed by the Diocese Secretariat, will enable payment of the monthly fees (PHP 25,000 per month) for a minimum of 9 months or depending on the progress of recovery; costs of medicines, laboratory fees and other costs. This is a big help at this time because the fund campaign that was launched by our NGO some time ago did not take off as expected.

It seems the potential contributors have not been made fully aware of the great risks posed by the presence of hundreds of untreated drug addicts hidden from view by their families. This misplaced gesture of family love will not be helpful at all in addressing the serious drug addiction problem in our midst.

This unfortunate situation implies that more efforts are needed to do public information campaigns on various aspects of the drug abuse problem, as well as on the urgent need to treat and rehabilitate drug abuse victims. This task properly belongs to government health agencies. It’s one area of support where the Government is in a better position to provide during this critical time when the entire province is under serious threat from the drug addiction problem. 

The Government has the staff and the institutional network with potential to launch a massive and effective public information drive on the impact of untreated drug addiction to both the family, community and society as a whole. What is needed will be the training and the logistics to execute a well-designed action plan which is sector-specific and creative enough to hit each target audience quite effectively.

The deployment of cultural groups such as Gardy Labad’s Kasing-Sining group has been  recommended in the past to be part of this public information campaign. Now that there is a local drug rehab center where drug abuse victims can be referred to, the messages from the cultural shows have a better chance of being received and acted upon immediately.

This public information campaign, if successful, will result in more demand for the services of the FITWBK recovery center. It is expected that a grant from a donor such as FBT will not suffice to cope with the expected huge demand from Bohol. This implies that the facility’s management, composed of two drug rehab centers , FARM (Family and Recovery Management) Center of Minglanilla, Cebu and It Works Chemical Dependency Treatment Center of Ozamis City will have to ensure highly competent staff and adequate facilities to cope with this demand.

Donors such as FBT cannot be expected to provide for cost items that are properly part of a business plan. They assume that FITWBK has such a plan that takes care of the commercial operations of the facility. Since most donors are good only for one-time grants, it is important that commercial operations remain viable and that advocacy be maintained to get additional donors for those who cannot afford to pay the treatment fees.

An important item which has been stricken off from the submission to FBT is the support to the establishment of an Outreach and Drop-In Center (ODIC). It amounts to PHP 800,000 , which will include the construction of the facility and the support for one year for the staff (1 social worker; 1 psychologist). The costs can be reduced if there is an existing structure which can be utilized for this facility.

The ODIC is vital so that there is a place where families with drug abuse problem can have access to information, counselling, diagnosis and referral. As of now, the FITWBK runs the risks of being overloaded with tasks associated with pre-treatment services.  Private sector companies and the Church may be tapped to sponsor and support this vital facility. It should be noted here that more than one such facility is needed for the city and the entire province.

For those who have previously expressed support to Citizens for Drug-Free Bohol, please contact us .

 My email: npestelos@gmail.com.  #Boholdrugrehabcenter

NMP/28 January 2016/10.24 a.m.