For The Bohol Tribune
In This Our Journey
NESTOR MANIEBO PESTELOS
First, I must relay to you the happy news that the Diocese of
Tagbilaran is supporting in concrete ways, not only by verbal advocacy and
rhetoric as other sectors do, the rehabilitation of drug abuse victims in
Bohol. Our NGO, the Bohol Local Development Foundation (BLDF), has been assured
by Fr. Val Pinlac, who heads the Secretariat of the Vatican-funded Bohol
Rebuild and Rehabilitation Project, that we can send trainees to their existing
livelihood skills training program.
These trainees may come from our primary target group, the
hundreds of out-of-school youth who are particularly vulnerable to enticements
that lead to drug abuse and eventually to unproductive and potentially
destructive crime-driven life.
We have been assured that those who recover from treatment at
Bohol’s first drug rehab center, the FARM It Works Balay Kahayag (FITWBK)
facility, may also be recommended to undergo training and, equally important,
apply for post-training support, such as provision of tools and other necessary
start-up requirements.
Fr. Pinlac and his team have also endorsed us to a donor, the
US-based For Better Tomorrow (FBT), so BLDF can be supported in its advocacy
that drug abuse victims from poor families be provided financial assistance to
enable them to access treatment services at FITWBK. Hundreds of such victims
cannot afford to be treated in Cebu and other places outside the province due
to high costs of treatment and associated expense items, e.g., fare, food and accommodation
or expenses associated with visit of parents normally required to attend
orientation and briefing sessions each month.
The proposal, endorsed by the Diocese Secretariat, will
enable payment of the monthly fees (PHP 25,000 per month) for a minimum of 9
months or depending on the progress of recovery; costs of medicines, laboratory
fees and other costs. This is a big help at this time because the fund campaign
that was launched by our NGO some time ago did not take off as expected.
It seems the potential contributors have not been made fully
aware of the great risks posed by the presence of hundreds of untreated drug
addicts hidden from view by their families. This misplaced gesture of family
love will not be helpful at all in addressing the serious drug addiction
problem in our midst.
This unfortunate situation implies that more efforts are
needed to do public information campaigns on various aspects of the drug abuse
problem, as well as on the urgent need to treat and rehabilitate drug abuse
victims. This task properly belongs to government health agencies. It’s one
area of support where the Government is in a better position to provide during
this critical time when the entire province is under serious threat from the
drug addiction problem.
The Government has the staff and the institutional network with
potential to launch a massive and effective public information drive on the
impact of untreated drug addiction to both the family, community and society as
a whole. What is needed will be the training and the logistics to execute a
well-designed action plan which is sector-specific and creative enough to hit
each target audience quite effectively.
The deployment of cultural groups such as Gardy Labad’s
Kasing-Sining group has been recommended
in the past to be part of this public information campaign. Now that there is a
local drug rehab center where drug abuse victims can be referred to, the
messages from the cultural shows have a better chance of being received and
acted upon immediately.
This public information campaign, if successful, will result
in more demand for the services of the FITWBK recovery center. It is expected
that a grant from a donor such as FBT will not suffice to cope with the
expected huge demand from Bohol. This implies that the facility’s management,
composed of two drug rehab centers , FARM (Family and Recovery Management)
Center of Minglanilla, Cebu and It Works Chemical Dependency Treatment Center of
Ozamis City will have to ensure highly competent staff and adequate facilities
to cope with this demand.
Donors such as FBT cannot be expected to provide for cost
items that are properly part of a business plan. They assume that FITWBK has
such a plan that takes care of the commercial operations of the facility. Since
most donors are good only for one-time grants, it is important that commercial
operations remain viable and that advocacy be maintained to get additional
donors for those who cannot afford to pay the treatment fees.
An important item which has been stricken off from the
submission to FBT is the support to the establishment of an Outreach and
Drop-In Center (ODIC). It amounts to PHP 800,000 , which will include the construction
of the facility and the support for one year for the staff (1 social worker; 1
psychologist). The costs can be reduced if there is an existing structure which
can be utilized for this facility.
The ODIC is vital so that there is a place where families
with drug abuse problem can have access to information, counselling, diagnosis
and referral. As of now, the FITWBK runs the risks of being overloaded with
tasks associated with pre-treatment services.
Private sector companies and the Church may be tapped to sponsor and
support this vital facility. It should be noted here that more than one such
facility is needed for the city and the entire province.
For those who have previously expressed support to Citizens
for Drug-Free Bohol, please contact us . My email: npestelos@gmail.com. #Boholdrugrehabcenter
NMP/28 January
2016/10.24 a.m.
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