MALACAÑANG on Thursday said it is now fast-tracking the construction of a mega drug abuse treatment and rehabilitation center in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija to accommodate the huge number of drug users surrendering for treatment.
“The construction of a mega drug abuse treatment and rehabilitation center (DATRC) in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija is in full-swing, with almost 50 percent completion. This first major rehab facility under construction, it is designed to accommodate 2,500 in-patients, and expected to be finished by the end of October 2016,” the Palace said in a statement.
“Now that the anti-drug campaign is on its second phase, the government, through its various agencies, is collaborating with all concerned sectors to put an end to this pervasive menace,” he added.
The Palace said that the Health department is already speeding up its recruitment of health workers and professionals who will operate the said facility, once it becomes operational in the first week of November.
The Department of Interior and Local Government, in partnership with local officials and private donors, will select one province per region that will accommodate rehabilitation centers.
President Rodrigo Duterte had earlier said that he won’t stop the momentum of the war against illegal drugs to be sustained in the years ahead.
“The momentum has to be there and it will be there for six years until the last pusher is taken out of this place,” he said in his speech at the 3rd Sulong Pilipinas convention attended by local government leaders.