Seven out of ten.
This was how Tagum City Mayor Alan Rellon rated the implementation of the city’s intensive anti-drug campaign since its launching on July 9, 2016.
In an interview, Rellon expressed his confidence the city government has already covered 90 percent of the total drug users, pushers, dependents and couriers in the city.
According to the city mayor, there are more than 4,000 drug surrenderees who have undergone the six-step program under the city’s Drug Abuse Campaign Rehabilitation Framework.
It can be recalled that on July, Mayor Rellon issued an executive order reconstituting the City Anti-Drug Abuse Council which formulated a framework that will oversee the intervention to be implemented by the local government and later, the rehabilitation of all drug dependents in Tagum.
He explained that the profiling was done on August followed by values enhancement, moral and spiritual development, physical fitness, community service involvement, and mental health development before the end of the month.
The city mayor added that to complete the program, the psychosocial intervention will be scheduled because they are still looking for a psychologist to render the service.
Rellon further said that on November, the surrenderees were subjected to evaluation and monitoring.
“We get now information from the PNP if those in the list have returned to their old ways or not, and a drug test was conducted because there are some on the 4,000 who have not attended the rehabilitation program,” said Rellon, adding that the final monitoring and evaluation will start on January.
The local chief executive is positive that by that time, the city government can finally declare many of those who surrendered as drug-free.
He said his office will stand by its policy that those who failed to attend the rehabilitation will be included on the PNP watchlist.
By the time those who surrendered have completed the rehabilitation course set by the local government, they will be eliminated from the surveillance list of the local police and be branded “STAND (Seryosong Tagumenyo Ayaw Na sa Droga)”.
