The story of surrenderers who spend their daily lives locked up in rehabilitation centers, or in their own homes waiting for treatment services to come, would show us that it is redemption not execution; reformation not exclusion that drug dependents need.
Three months after the police have begun knocking on doors of suspected drug users and pushers in communities, some 700,000 drug dependents are still at the mercy of local government units' "trial and error" rehabilitation programs that are short of funds and lacking in direction.
Aside from participating in Zumba and other physical activities, the hopeful drug surrenderers were left to do "experimental" activities conducted in the absence of national government standards.
Local government's 2017 budget for drug abuse prevention and rehabilitation can go as high as six times the current budget.
At least six cities in Metro Manila plan to have their own treatment and rehabilitation centers (TRCs): Paranaque, Caloocan, Mandaluyong, Taguig, Manila and San Juan.
But most city anti-drug abuse councils are also understaffed and health professionals on the grassroots level are increasingly becoming burdened by the large number of patients, especially since they have to conduct a health-based profiling.
President Duterte recently said the government did not have the funds to finance the rehabilitation of drug users.
Since he assumed the presidency on June 30, almost 3,000 alleged drug pushers and users had died in police operations and vigilante killings.
Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) chair Benjamin Reyes said the current situation is overwhelming and interventions on surrenderers must be immediately provided.
But the board has yet to issue new provisional guidelines for local government units on how to handle surrenderers.
The Department of Health's role is to advise local government units to craft different activities that can help make a drug user go into full recovery. The department has yet to evaluate local strategies.
The TRC-Bicutan, once ran by the Philippine National Police, is now accredited by the Department of Health as the country's biggest public rehabilitation center.
Most of its patients are from the National Capital Region and Cavite. The center, which has an ideal capacity of 500, currently houses 1500 patients. The number of admitted drug dependents has tripled as of September.
Current problems include lack of staff members, budget, infrastructures and facilities for the clients, and the overcrowded facility which makes the clients prone to skin diseases and, at times, to contagious diseases like tuberculosis.
What is an ideal rehabilitation center?Bert, 41, an ex-convict and murderer, has been imprisoned twice before he was sent to the rehab center seven months ago. While three of his peers were killed already while he was undergoing rehab, Bert learns to love, give, and to work hard for the new life he's aiming for when he returns to his home after. There's no free lunch in life, he says.
The Seagulls Flight Foundation, Inc., is a residential facility for moderate to heavy drug users in Tagaytay City. The center, built in 1998 by a former drug dependent himself, has a view of the Taal Volcano.
Its around 50 clients include teenagers, celebrities, lawyers, politicians and professionals — mostly from the upper class. The Therapeutic Community (TC) program — a drug-free self-help program set within a highly structured family environment — usually runs for 12 to15 months and comes with an after-care program. Some of its staff members are former clients, too.
The Seagulls foundation currently collaborates with and trains several LGUs in their conduct of outpatient and community-based rehabilitation programs.
Eric, a lawyer then working for clients including those involved in drug-related cases got stuck in his drug addiction. Hitting rock-bottom and losing integrity in his family and profession, Eric brought himself in the rehab center, only to find out several others are experiencing the same problem as his. There's a miracle after all, he said.
QC-TRC (Tahanan) the first DOH-accredited treatment facility for drug dependents that is fully-funded and operated by a local government unit (LGU). Since 1993, it has been serving as a residential treatment center open to Quezon City residents. Tahanan is currently under the helm of Quezon City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte.
But Belmonte admitted that the center is now facing space shortage.
Allan, 51, and a recovering drug dependent, knows well that option and control are mutually exclusive. When he turned himself in to Tahanan three months ago, he was willing to follow the rules of the therapeutic community so he could start anew.