Work, training, rehab options for drug users

SELF-CONFESSED drug addict Joji Cuizon, 39, says he has been a given an opportunity that he could not pass up.

A resident of Barangay Bankal in Lapu-Lapu City, Cuizon used to drive a habal-habal (motorcycle for hire), but he is now contented with working at the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) of the city government receiving a salary of P250 per day.

Cuizon is one of the 1,700 surrenderers in Lapu-Lapu City who have been given several options so they can stay away from drugs: work at the MRF located at the city’s Barangay Mactan under the local government’s cash-for-work program, sign up for skills training projects or undergo a drug rehabilitation program that includes physical fitness, community service and spiritual upliftment activities.

The city government does these projects in coordination with the local police and nongovernment organizations (NGO) operating in the city.

“Maayo na kaayo ni uy kaysa maghabal-habal nga basin mabalik ta sa bisyo ug delikado kon mapusilan ta (This is much better than driving a habal-habal where I can be enticed to return to my vices or even be in danger of getting shot),” says Cuizon on his decision to work at the MRF instead.

Cuizon started using shabu (methamphetamine) in 1995 and since then, has faced difficulties one after another, especially with supporting his family of eight (wife and seven children) while coping with his addiction.

“Pirme ko walay kwarta kay ipalit man og shabu. Makahuna-huna ta ug dautan aron lang makakwarta (I often don’t have money because I used it all to buy shabu. It led me to think of bad things just to get money),” adds Cuizon.

Priorities

Cuizon has been working at the MRF for two weeks now, reporting from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., making footpath cement slabs and drainage channelizers that are being provided by the city government to villages.

Because the work requires a lot of physical activity, Cuizon says he hardly has time to think about drugs and, more importantly, associate with friends using shabu.

Cuizon says his wife and children, even his neighbors and friends, are happy for him for deciding to start over again and for humbling himself by working as a construction worker.

“Ako gyud ning gi agwanta kay nahadlok ko aning patay karon sa mga user ug drug pusher (I am enduring the hardship because I fear this rash of killings of users and drug pushers),” he added.

Cuizon was one of the initial 57 surenderers who had been working at the MRF. Some of them do gardening at the MRF’s compound surrounded by different kinds of vegetables.

The MRF’s vegetables will be distributed to Homecare, City Jail and gardeners themselves. The MRF makes their own organic fertilizer. Ground hard plastic material waste from the Mactan Export Processing Zone (Mepz) locators are made materials for making footpath slabs and plant boxes mixed with cement, gravel and sand.

The first batch of surrenderers that includes Cuizon has to work for three months at the MRF, and they will be prioritized if there are companies or NGOs that can give them another work.

Mayor Paz Radaza says they are now finalizing the skills training modules for surrenderers who wants to avail of the program. They will also facilitate the graduates to be able to find work or start a business.