Drug rehab center to rise in Pinamungajan

A DRUG rehabilitation center will soon rise in Pinamungajan town.

This was revealed by Gov. Hilario Davide III at the Capitol yesterday after the province of Cebu was chosen to be the recipient of a drug rehabilitation center that will be constructed by a telecommunications company in Pinamungajan, approximately 70 kilometers southwest of Cebu City.

Davide said the representatives of Globe Telecom last Friday told him during their meeting last Friday about their plans to shoulder the cost of establishing a drug rehabilitation center in an area totaling to about 2,000 square meters inside the compound of Dr. Jose Ma. V. Borromeo Memorial District Hospital in Pinamungajan.

He said the Provincial Health Office estimated the cost of the building at P35 million.

But Davide said the provincial government and Globe Telecom will still have to iron out details before starting the project.

“Whether the cost has been approved by higher-ranking officials of Globe, we still do not know. We will be meeting with them again in the coming days for updates,” explained Davide.

He said the province selected Dr. Jose Ma. V. Borromeo Memorial District Hospital as the recipient since it is the only government-owned health facility that has met the standards and requirements set by Globe under the project.

“What they planned was to convert and renovate an old building inside the hospital compound into a rehab facility. They will not start the construction from the ground and that’s why in Pinamungajan, their hospital has an old building which is feasible for their plans,” Davide added.

Davide said both parties agreed that the Capitol will take over the management of the drug rehabilitation facility once operational.

“That means we have to hire more including doctors and psychiatrists to attend the patients. And we will have to handle its maintenance also,” Davide added.

The Cebu provincial government is the second beneficiary of Globe’s drug rehabilitation initiative. The first one was the local government of Marawi City where they constructed a 70-bed drug rehabilitation center.

However, due to the conflict in Marawi, the turnover of the facility was canceled last June.

Davide said the donation from Globe is in response to the call of President Rodrigo Duterte for the private sector to take part in the campaign against illegal drugs by providing free rehabilitation services to drug surrenderers around the country.