DILG launches MASA MASID in Bulacan
CITY OF MALOLOS – The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) together with Bulacan local officials spearheaded by Gov. Wilhelmino M. Sy-Alvarado led the Provincial Launching of the Mamamayang Ayaw Sa Anomalya, Mamamayang Ayaw sa Ilegal na Droga or the MASA MASID this morning at the Bulacan Capitol Gymnasium in this city.
The community-based program for the prevention of corruption, illegal drugs and criminality in the barangays aims to encourage communities to take part and unite in curbing the aforementioned problems.
“Sa pamamagitan ng pagbubuklod ng pamahalaan, iba’t ibang sektor ng lipunan at ng mga mamamayan ay higit nating mapalalakas ang bolunterismo sa mga pamayanan upang ihayag at labanan ang mga kanser ng lipunan sa kasalukuyan – ang korupsyon, krimen at iligal na droga,” Alvarado said.
Atty. John Castriciones, undersecretary of the DILG, shared the new profiling system of the surrenderers that are classified into three and conducted by psychologists who are properly trained.
The first classification is the curious users where their dependency on drugs is not too high and therefore they can be subjected to a training entirely different from the rest; the second classification will be subjected to confinement in rehabilitation centers; whereas the third classification would belong to those people who for the longest time have been abusing the illegal substance and therefore must be placed in mental institutions because they have developed some sort of psychosis or neurosis.
“Hindi kayang ilagay ng ating pamahalaan lahat ng mga taong drug dependent sa isang rehab center, 10,000 lang ang kaya ng lahat ng rehab centers sa bansa, if we use private rehabs, expenses would entail 40,000 a month and you need six months to rehab a person and that’s 240,000 per person, and we don’t have the budget to address this,” Castriciones said.
He said that drug dependents are exposed to different programs of the government like the greening program of DENR, livestock raising of DA, young people who’ve been victimized by drugs can go to ALS or TESDA, and hopes that after undergoing those programs they will become viable citizens again.
At present, the country is in the process of constructing big rehabilitation centers nationwide, the Mega Rehab in Nueva Ecija that will be able to accommodate 10,000 illegal drug dependents. It will be launched on November 29 by Pres. Rodrigo Duterte apart from the proposed one rehabilitation center per region.
Moreover, P/S Supt. Romeo Caramat, provincial director of PNP-BPPO, reported that from July 1, 2016 to November 17, 2016, there were 18,085 users and 748 pushers who surrendered voluntarily; 1,138 operations were conducted, 1,692 arrested, 199 were killed in a legitimate encounter while 192 were recorded as death under investigation. Also, a total of 12 kg of shabu, 6,334.772 grams of marijuana and 224 firearms were confiscated.
Meanwhile, DILG Head Executive Assistant of the Office of the Secretary Josephine Leysa, CESO V acknowledged the province of Bulacan and its five municipalities namely Calumpit, Doña Remedios Trinidad, Guiguinto, Plaridel and San Rafael for being awarded the Seal of Good Local Governance Award in the recently concluded 2016 Philippine Local Governance Congress Awarding Ceremony.
“Hindi po madali ang pumasa sa Seal Of Good Local Governance, 306 out of the 1,673 LGUs were conferred with SGLG who are entitled to performance challenge fund and incentive. Among them are 43 provinces who will receive P7 million each, 38 cities who will receive P5 million each and 209 municipalities will receive 1 million each,” Leysa shared.