Winning the war on narcotics by rehabilitating drug users entails a hefty cost.
For the Manila City government, having an extra P100 million could go a long way.
Mayor Joseph Estrada is asking for that amount from the national government to finance the upgrade of the youth shelter known as Boystown so it could adequately serve as a drug rehab facility.
The shelter is operated by the Manila City government in Parang, Marikina City.
Specialized center
Estrada, who earlier voiced his support for the Duterte administration’s antidrug campaign, justified the P100 million he’s requesting from Malacañang, saying it would really be “costly” to transform Boystown into a specialized center where patients can be treated for a minimum of three months.
The blueprint for Boystown’s redevelopment is ready and the city government is just awaiting funding, according to one of the mayor’s aides.
Under the plan, the city would still be shouldering the cost of maintenance as well as the meals and medicine for the wards.
A statement released by City Hall on Thursday said Estrada’s daughter Jerika Ejercito is handling the drug rehabilitation project.
Ejercito is the head of nongovernment organization Initiatives for Life and Action for Women (ILAW), which has so far facilitated the admission of about 70 drug dependents at Boystown.
ILAW’s main thrust is to help “troubled women in Manila who suffer from drug and alcohol addiction, depression and other mental sickness, and all forms of abuse,” the statement said.
“The expenses are immaterial in helping a drug dependent start a new life,” Estrada said. “Drug dependents do not cease to be humans when they do drugs. We will help them. They should get adequate treatment and they need our help.”
Estrada noted that since the police launched the “Oplan Tokhang” antidrug campaign in July, Manila had produced “the most number of drug suspects” who were either arrested or who had voluntarily surrendered.
The Manila Police District said the number of those arrested in the city had reached about 500 while the surrenderers had so far totaled around 10,000.