53 former drug addicts finish rehab at mega drug facility in Nueva Ecija

Fifty-three former drug dependents on Friday culminated their six-month stay at the first mega Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Center (DATRC) in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija.

"This shows that the government is doing a holistic campaign on anti-illegal drugs by giving real support in the recovery of surrenderers,” said Interior and Local Government Assistant Secretary for Plans and Programs Epimaco Densing III in a statement issued Friday.

Aside from the 53 rehabilitated patients, 360 other patients are currently undergoing rehab at the facility, Densing said.

Densing added the DATRC only houses severely affected drugs users while moderate drug users will be treated in other rehab centers accredited by the Department of Health (DOH).

The mega DATRC in Nueva Ecija is one of the four target mega DATRCs in the country, he said.

Two other facilities will be established in Luzon and one each in Visayas and Mindanao.

Presidential Executive Order No. 4, series of 2016, identified the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) as the designated chair of the DATRC Inter-agency Task Force together with DOH and the Dangerous Drugs Board as co-chair.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Budget and Management, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Office of the President were also designated as members of the said task force.

"As chair of the Task Force, the DILG activated a Project Management Office to synchronize the inter-agency efforts for the construction of DATRCs in the country," Densing said.

He also shared that the medium-term goal of the task force is to have one DATRC in each of the 18 regions.

Its long-term goal, meanwhile, is to have rehabilitation centers in all provinces.

However the ultimate objective of the task force is to make rehabilitation centers irrevelant, meaning have zero drug addicts in the country.

The first mega DATRC located in Nueva Ecija was inaugurated by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016 and is operated, maintained, and managed by DILG and DOH. —Rafeea Custodio/KG/KVD, GMA News