Reforming drug users
DON’T look now, but President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration, which ends at 12 noon on June 30 next year, is seen to transform former drug addicts into “productive citizens” anew.
This is through the implementation of the multi-pronged and highly-effective Yakap Bayan Program (YBP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
The YBP is a holistic intervention to assist Recovering Persons Who Used Drugs (RPWUDs) toward reintegration into their families and communities, according to the department.
To improve the well-being of RPWUDs, the DSWD will provide for their aftercare services, like relapse prevention sessions, health and fitness therapy, spiritual interventions, and skills training.
Last Friday, the DSWD under Secretary Rolando D. Bautista bared its partnership with 38 local government units (LGUs) for the institutionalization of the program.
The LGUs are in Regions 1, 9, 11, 12, 13 (Caraga) and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).
With more LGUs recognizing the need to implement the YBP, the DSWD hopes that more RPWSUDs, men and women, will be transformed into law-abiding citizens again.
Indeed, we can expect the number of illegal drug users to decrease with the establishment of more drug rehabilitation centers not only in the metropolis but elsewhere.
Aside from YBP, the government, through concerned offices and agencies, must come up with other programs and initiatives aimed at slaying the dreaded “drug monster.”
It’s a move that must be considered immediately if we are to free the country from the clutches of illegal drugs.
