CATBALOGAN CITY- A military camp in Hinabangan, Samar has been identified as a possible drug rehabilitation center in the region.
This was disclosed by Brigadier Gen. Cesar Idio, assistant division commander of the 8th Infantry Division.
Idio said that this idea was advanced to President Rodrigo Duterte during his visit to the 8th ID camp last Tuesday (August 9).
“The camp is big and there is no signal there,” he said.
The proposed drug rehabilitation center belongs to the 801st Infantry Brigade located in Barangay Fatima, Hinabangan.
It serves as the training camp for newly-hired soldiers of the 8th ID.
Records from the Philippine National Police shows that about 16,000 individuals in the region have surrendered since the administration of Pres. Duterte implemented it intensified campaign against illegal drugs.
The huge number of those who surrendered caught the government off guard, to include the President himself.
There is no existing drug rehabilitation in the region except the government-run rehabilitation center in Dulag, Leyte.
However, the facility remains not operational after it was damaged after supertyphoon “Yolanda” hit the region on November 8, 2013.
While there is an existing private drug rehabilitation center in Tacloban, ordinary drug dependents could not afford its high price of P20, a month. (ROEL T. AMAZONA)
