By Glazyl Y. Masculino
BACOLOD City – The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-Negros Occidental said that eight local government units (LGUs) have committed to establish Balay Silangan centers in their respective areas by next year.
Investigation Agent V Nicolas Gomez, PDEA-Negros Occidental head said these LGUs are the towns of Pulupandan, E.B. Magalona, Moises Padilla, and Don Salvador Benedicto, and the cities of Silay, San Carlos, Sipalay, and Himamaylan.
Gomez told Daily Guardian that these LGUs made the pledge recently as part of their commitment and support to the programs of the government in the fight against illegal drugs.
The center, which can accommodate at least 30 persons, will be financed and maintained by the LGU, he added.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s an old building, for as long as there are quarters and other rooms that can be use for the staff and other necessities,” Gomez said.
Gomez said that one of the requirements for a city or municipality to be declared drug free is the construction of the Balay Silangan center.
The Balay Silangan center, according to Gomez, will house drug pushers who will be treated and will be provided with livelihood trainings and other benefit programs.
“If an individual was categorized as drug user and pusher, he or she must undergo first a community-based rehabilitation program before entering the center for an in-house rehabilitation,” Gomez said.
He said that Bacolod City is the first LGU in the province to have built the center, but the facility has yet to be utilized.
As of November 2020, about 176 out of 601 villages in the province, or 30 percent, have been declared drug-free, he said.
He said the last deliberation and validation of other candidate-villages is scheduled here next month.
