DAVAO CITY—A multimillion rehabilitation center for drug dependents was inaugurated on Tuesday at Brgy. Malagos in Calinan district here.
Funded by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. and Resorts World Philippine Cultural Heritage Foundation, the center will be built on a 1.9-hectare lot owned by the city government inside the camp of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Battalion.
Kingson U. Sian, president of the Resorts World Philippines Cultural Heritage Foundation, said they designed a rehab center with a 224-bed capacity over a 7,000-square-meter floor area.
Sian said only 1.2 hectares would be used of the lot to give space for expansion. The entire project will cost Pagcor and Resorts World P200 million and is expected to be completed in December next year.
By funding the drug rehab center, Sian said they can show that the private sector is with President Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs.
“We in the private sector are working hand in hand in support of the government’s effort to eradicate this problem that we are facing. We decided to build a world-class facility, which is a DoH [Department of Health] sanctioned facility,” Sian said.
Asked why they chose Davao City, Sian said the President’s campaign started here, so it is just right for them to also start their advocacy at its origin.
The Resorts World foundation will make sure to hire workers from Davao to build the rehab center, he added.
The city will shoulder the operation of the rehab center with complete social and health workers to attend to the needs of its patients, Mayor Sara Duterte said.
“I told Dr. Gene Gulanes our head of the Davao City rehab that we should sit down with the DOH because I think we need help for the budget of its operation every year,” she added.
PAGCOR Chair and CEO Andrea Domingo said the only way her office can help the campaign of President Duterte is through building rehab centers.
“We decided to put it in Davao City to make everybody believe that we are with the president’s campaign,” Domingo said.