Poor users hit hardest in drug war

DRUG users join a police-organized Zumba session in Mandaue City, Cebu province, following their surrender on
July 14. FERDINAND EDRALIN/CEBU DAILY NEWS

Kathy (not her real name) was 15 years old when she and her friends got hooked on drugs as a “hobby” and for “fun.”

That was in 2012. Things began to change when she gave birth to a baby girl last year. “I don’t want my daughter to have a mother who is a drug addict,” she said.

On July 1, Kathy presented herself to the police in Liloan town in northern   Cebu amid a campaign dubbed as “Toktok-Hangyo” (Tokhang) or “knock and convince,” in which policemen go house-to-house to persuade drug users and pushers to surrender or face arrest and criminal charges

Those who gave up were fingerprinted and made to sign an “affidavit of undertaking,” stating their admission of substance abuse and promising to “never indulge” again and undergo drug testing and rehabilitation, if needed.

Since the Philippine National Police launched Toktok-Hangyo on July 1, a day after President Duterte took office, more than 41,000 mostly users had surrendered in the Visayas—6,869 in Eastern Visayas and 2,670 in Western Visayas (as of July 11), 6,903 in Negros Island Region (as of July 12), and 25,219 in Central Visayas (as of July 13), according to reports of regional police offices.

Poor and jobless

Most are jobless and depended on selling illegal drugs for income.

In Eastern Visayas, those who surrendered were aged 16 to 60, including  a policeman, a barangay chair and government workers. But in Jagna town in Bohol province, two of the 420 who surrendered were children aged 8 and 13.

Only a few high-profile personalities yielded.

In Negros Occidental, former vice mayor Joseph Gerald Marañon of Sagay City, son of the late Gov. Joseph Marañon and nephew of incumbent Gov. Alfredo Marañon, surrendered and pledged to stop using drugs and to undergo rehabilitation.

In Cebu, the brother of Mayor Dan Jusay of Catmon town surrendered and promised to stop selling “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride), the country’s most abused substance.

Jover Jusay was second on the list of “drug personalities” in the town and considered a Level 3 pusher, meaning one who could sell 50 grams of shabu worth P590,000 per week.

On Tuesday, Cebuano singer Jay-r Siaboc, runner-up in the TV talent show, Pinoy Dream Academy (PDA), surrendered in Toledo City and admitted he was a user.

Family affair

Many who surrendered were convinced by relatives. Some asked policemen to include loved ones in Tokhang. “They are aware of the campaign and many have volunteered to report to the police station once they were assured that they would not be arrested,” said Arleen Alison, a councilor of Inday village in Iloilo City.

Some gave up out of fear amid a surge of killings of suspected drug dealers.

“The news reports about the death of drug suspects scared me because many have been killed even here in Bohol. My wife also keeps on nagging me to stop,” said Allan, 60, a “balut” (hard-boiled fertilized duck egg) vendor.

“Besides, my wife and children told me I am too old to be a drug peddler. It’s shameful, according to them.”

Allan said he started selling shabu in 2012 to augment his income. He later became addicted to the drug which, he said, made him lose sleep.

While police officials have declared a success in the campaign, the deluge of people surrendering have raised a key question—how do you wean them away from addiction?

Testing expenses

They are required to undergo voluntary drug tests and be evaluated to determine the extent of their addiction. Those who need treatment and rehabilitation are referred to the Department of Health (DOH).

Testing costs range from P300 to P350, prices too steep for them.

In Iloilo, the city government would shoulder the cost of testing and charge it to the budget of the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council, said Chief Insp. Rio Maymay, chief of Precinct 1 of the city police.

Elsewhere, the amount is borne by the patient or his or her relatives. Those who need long-term treatment and rehabilitation face a bigger burden.

Few rehab centers

Kathy, 19, the youngest of those who surrendered in Liloan, Cebu, wants to undergo rehabilitation to cleanse her body of the illegal substance. But only 11 government and private facilities exist in the Visayas, and the treatment cost is prohibitive.

Six of the centers are in Cebu , two in Iloilo, two in Negros Occidental (one in Victorias City and another in Bacolod City), and one in Tacloban City in Leyte.

Dr. Dino Caing, head of the DOH’s non-communicable disease section in Central Visayas, said the two government-run drug rehabilitation facilities in the region are currently fully booked while the privately owned centers could hardly admit the new patients.

“We didn’t expect this. The surge is like a tsunami and we don’t have enough drug rehabilitation centers to accommodate them,” Caing told the Inquirer.

The government-run Substance Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Center in Pototan town in Iloilo has been operating to full capacity even before the police campaign began. It has 50 beds but serves 80 patients, according to its medical chief, Dr. Maria Lourdes Hembra.

While the center has been allowed by the DOH to admit more patients, Hembra said it was treating far more serious cases and those needing long-term attention, aside from out-patients.

The 25-bed Dynamic Psychiatry Institute in Oton town in Iloilo is full, according to Dr. Ruel Malata, its program director.

In Bacolod, Raffy Remitio, who runs the 22-bed New Beginnings, said patients are being turned away for lack of accommodation.

Costly treatment

For centers with vacancies, cost of treatment is not affordable. Those with severe addiction must undergo detoxification, which usually lasts a week, according to Malata.

The price tag is P64,000, including P15,000 for a room, P14,000 in medical consultancy fee, and P35,000 in medicines.

Rehabilitation takes three to six months at P10,000 per month in government facilities and P25,000-P60,000 per month in private centers, excluding medicines.

In provinces like Bohol which do not have any rehabilitation center, drug dependents have no choice but to seek treatment in private centers elsewhere.

“Only people who are well-off can afford rehabilitation. How about those who belong to the poor sector? What will happen to them?” said psychologist Jerome Magallen, who is based in Bohol.

Moreover, the social stigma of addiction is still so potent that many users and their families are reluctant to seek help in the first place, Magallen said.

He said a therapeutic community, such as rehabilitation centers, could help the patients improve and change their lives.

Out-patient services

Caing of the DOH regional office, said his department plans to establish out-patient services but only for those in the early stages of drug abuse which can be treated through home-based rehabilitation and medication.

But for Gino Amodia, director of the House of Hope, a private center in Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu, it is best for users to be admitted.

“Self-rehabilitation can be effective only for a very few people. Most of the users manage to stop using drugs only for a month or two. After that, they return to their old way,” said Amodia, a shabu user for a decade before he was rehabilitated.

“Based on my experience, it is really very difficult to get rid of drugs unless you undergo rehab,” he told the Inquirer.

Police and health officials have called on the national and local governments to put up rehabilitation centers, especially for the poor. But putting up the new facilities takes time and many of those who surrendered are sent home.

‘Drop-in centers’

“We just rely on their good faith that they will stop or refrain from engaging in the illegal drug trade,” said Senior Insp. Edgar Octaviano, head of the operations division of the Tacloban police.

Malata, an Iloilo-based psychiatrist, said alternative community-based “drop-in centers” could be set up. These would be staffed by psychologists and counselors (especially former dependents) who would provide group dynamics, table games and sports and spiritual activities among others

But Malata said long-term efforts should focus on the prevention of drug abuse, especially educating children and teenagers.

The drug problem has worsened because preventive measures have mainly failed, he said. After all, he added, prevention is always better than the cure.