QC drug rehab center suddenly can’t cope

Because of the increasing number of drug addicts and pushers submitting themselves for rehabilitation, the Quezon City Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Center is looking for ways to take in more patients.

Mayor Herbert Bautista said on Tuesday that those who surrendered had been told to go home and wait to be called since the rehab center—more popularly known as Tahanan—in Barangay Payatas B, Quezon City, could accommodate just 150 persons.

“We are waiting for the Department of Health (DOH) accreditation for additional bed capacity,” Bautista told the Inquirer.

Figures from the Quezon City Police Department (QCPD) showed that over 1,000 drug users and peddlers from different barangays had voluntarily surrendered to authorities and asked to be committed to a rehabilitation facility.

Tahanan currently houses 150 inmates who stay in a dorm-type facility that accommodates more than 10 persons per room. Government workers at the center told the Inquirer that the “residents” usually stay for a minimum of six months, a period that may be extended if necessary.

Right now, the facility is at full capacity with another 36 people on the waitlist. The center’s personnel said that the number of drug users voluntarily giving themselves up to the facility has gone up to around 30 a day.

Introduced in 1993, Tahanan, through its DOH doctors, provides drug-dependency evaluation for individuals who are either referred for rehab or counseling. Once admitted, drug users undergo therapy programs and are given specific work roles to help them get their lives back on track.