The
Department of Social Welfare and Development
(DSWD) has already submitted a budget proposal for the operationalization and
implementation of the “Reintegration, Rehabilitation and Transformation Support
for Recovering Drug Dependents” or Pillar III of the National Drug
Rehabilitation Program.
The DSWD acted on
instructions from Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco to submit the proposal to
the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) for consolidation and to
get approval for it from Budget Sec. Benjamin Diokno.
The proposal is for a total
fund allocation of P1,452,982, 078.34 for CY 2016 October-December and 2017.
The target participants are
37,916 drug surrenderees for the months of October to December 2016 (10% of
622,898 of drug surrenderees as of August 11, 2016. These are numbers based on
records of the Philippine National Police); and 41,708 drug surrenderees from
January-December 2017.
“This effort to implement
Pillar III: Aftercare, Reintegration and Transformation Support for Recovering
Drug Dependents are in line with the call of Pres. Rodrigo R. Duterte to
eliminate drugs in the country and to provide government-wide full support to
the recovering drug dependents,” said DSWD Sec. Judy M. Taguiwalo
“What we want is to help the
drug users and pushers who have surrendered to rehabilitate themselves and
return to the fold of society as productive members. Each of them have stories
and personal histories that have led them to lives of drug using or peddling,
and we hope that through the series of interventions our government agencies
want to provide to them, we can help them leave this segment of their lives
behind them,” she added.
"Our country's drug
problem has to be addressed through interventions that go to the root causes:
poverty caused by lack of social support for many Filipinos, corruption in
various levels in the various agencies of government, and lack of sustainable,
productive employment for the poor," she stressed further.
"The three Pillars of
this program for drug pushers/users are meant to pave the way towards lasting
solutions to the drug problem,” Ms. Taguiwalo added.
Under the Pillar III, the
Cash for Work (CFW) otherwise known as the Assistance to Communities in Need of
the Protective Services, Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS),
and the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) are recommended to be funded to
provide assistance to the recovering drug dependents along with other
psychosocial programs of the Department and other programs of other agencies.
The budget requirement
includes the creation of staff requirement which will be lodged at the Central
Office, 18 Field Offices and 81 Social Welfare and Development Team (SWADT)
Offices beginning October to December for CY 2016, and January to December for
CY 2017.
The three proposed Pillars of
Interventions are of follows:
Pillar I: The Department of
Health (DOH) as the lead agency along with the Philippine Drug Enforcement
Agency (PDEA), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), PNP and DILG, the
Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) in the creation of a data base/profile of the
surrenderees. The screening and referral for appropriate services to include
but not limited to drug testing, treatment and rehabilitation, mental health
facility/medical center/hospital and provision of support i.e. education,
skills training, job opportunities, psycho-social, medical, etc.
Pillar II: The Community
Based Rehabilitation Pillar will be led by the Ugnayan ng Barangay at Simbahan
(UBAS) along with other line agencies such as the PNP, the DSWD, the Technical
and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), the DILG and the Department of
Health. The objective of this Pillar is to design a community-based and
holistic recovery and rehabilitation programs to make the community (barangay
level) a rehabilitation center for drug user/pusher surrenderees.
Pillar III: The Aftercare,
Reintegration and Transformation Support for Recovering Drug Dependents will be
led by the DSWD with the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP),
Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the Department of Agriculture (DA), the
Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Department of Education (DepEd),
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the DILG, the DOH,
DOJ-Parole and Probation Administration, the Dept. of Trade and Industry (DTI),
the Dept. of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the Technological and Skills
Development Authority (TESDA), the National Commission for Culture and the Arts
(NCCA) and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC). These agencies will
work together to provide a wide-array of aftercare services to recovering drug
dependents to strengthen their rehabilitation and reintegration. (DSWD)
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