PNP seeks funds to keep rehab centers running

CONFESSED drug users and pushers gather in Pampanga province during a recent mass surrender ceremony in the government’s antidrug campaign. TONETTE OREJAS / Inquirer Central Luzon

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga—With a limited amount of funds pooled from savings and donations, 140 police stations in Central Luzon region have put up centers for drug users who volunteered to reform.

But as the funds start being depleted, the Central Luzon police asked the public for help in financing its Bahay Pagbabago (BP) centers to help in the rehabilitation of at least 2,000 drug dependents every month.

The users, said Chief Supt. Aaron Aquino, Central Luzon police director, need white shirts, white shorts, blankets, beds, mattresses, soap, toothpaste, towels and food.

The BP centers are housed in buildings, abandoned structures or rented facilities and are managed by the police, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Department of Health, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and local governments.

These offer programs in physical fitness, spiritual renewal and livelihood skills. In the meantime, parents or relatives of the users provide food.

Aquino said donations are accepted at police stations, provincial police camps and the regional police headquarters in Camp Olivas.

Almost 12,000 drug users and pushers in the region’s seven provinces have surrendered since the Duterte administration waged war on illegal drugs in July.