LUCENA CITY—When a local basketball tournament, participated in by more than 400 confessed drug users and pushers, ended on Friday, most of the players displayed mixed feelings of joy and sadness.
“Most of us were happy because for more than a month, we felt the genuine concern of the government to help us reform our lives,” said Sancho Cano, 48, barangay tanod (village guard) in the village of Cotta. “But after the tournament, some of us were afraid that we would be left on our own to survive.”
Cano, also a confessed drug user, appealed to the local government and police for continued support so they would become productive citizens again.
“The most important thing for us is employment,” he said.
The players from the city’s 33 villages were “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride) users who surrendered to the police in recent months as the government intensified its crackdown on illegal drugs.
The basketball league was initiated by Mayor Roderick Alcala and Supt. Dennis de Leon, city police chief, as part of the activities under Project United Stand Against Dangerous Drugs (Project Usad).
Conceptualized by Senior Supt. Antonio Yarra, Quezon provincial police director, Project Usad covers advocacy and awareness, law enforcement, reformation and rehabilitation, and empowerment.
Francia Britania Malabanan, acting head of the City Antidrug Abuse Council, said her office has been asking business establishments in the city to support the rehabilitation program. —DELFIN T. MALLARI JR.