Catholic Church in Calbayog City to Help in Rehab Program for Drug Users

The Catholic Church under the Our Lady’s Nativity Parish of Calbayog City will help in implementing the Community-based Rehabilitation Program (CBRP) for illegal drug users-surrenderees in Calbayog City.

According to City Drug Abuse Prevention and Rehabilitation Office (CDAPRO) Chief Dr. Teodoro Fortaleza, it was Calbayog Diocese Bishop Isabelo Abarquez himself who gave the go-signal to the Parish’ Team of Pastors to participate in implementing the said program which aims to help solve the problem of illegal drugs addiction in a legal and humane way.

The CDAPRO has already constituted a Technical Working Group (TWG) under the Ugnayan ng Barangay at Simbahan or UBAS composed of CDAPRO, the Philippine National Police (PNP) , the City Office of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Parish Team of Pastors represented by Rev. Fr. Noel Lavendia which will iron-out some details of the implementation of CBRP.

Fortaleza said that the Church thru the priests and trained members of the Basic Ecclesial Communities will handle the moral and spiritual component-module of the program which will run for 3 weeks, while the Family and Individual Development module will be handled by the CDAPRO.

The program also has a skills development and livelihood component which will be handled by other partner agencies like the Technical-Vocational Office, TESDA and the City’s Public Employment Assistance Office.

This 6-months CBRP will be piloted at Brgy. Rawis, this city, immediately after the observance of the Holy Week, adds Dr. Fortaleza.

Meanwhile, random drug testing for government employees continues at CDAPRO. Fortaleza said that they're almost through with personnel from the Dept. of Education Calbayog City Schools Division, where everybody who has been randomly tested were negative from substance abuse. (CJ/ELEEN LIM)