Road to Recovery: 200 Taclobanon Drug Surrenderers Finish Skills Training
The road to recovery of drug surrenderers in Tacloban City has started.
200 drug personalities are scheduled to complete their 45-day skills training within the next few days. This initiative is a major program of the Philippine National Police (PNP) regional office that aims to transform and reintegrate drug surrenderers to the community.
According to PNP Regional Director Chief Supt. Gilberto Cruz, “the trainings are designed not just to help them earn money for their own and their family, but become first responders in their communities during calamities and emergencies.” Cruz also added that these drug surrenderers are prepared to rejoin their communities and contribute in new ways.
A graduation ceremony will be held on March 5 at the Araw camp. All of them will receive a training completion certificate and an identification card from the PNP stating that they are fit to work. The beneficiaries are expected to become trainers in their respective communities after their learning. The PNP also sponsored a fun run on Sunday dubbed as “Takbo para sa Pagbabago” (Run for Change) to raise funds as start-up capital for the 200 drug surrenderers.
Below is a list of courses offered to the surrenderers from the region’s six provinces:
- Motorcycle servicing
- Service consumer electronic products and systems
- Food processing
- Organic vegetables cultivation
- Organic chicken raising
- Massage
- Emergency search and rescue
- Stress management, traffic management
- Village peacekeeping operations
- Self-defense techniques
- Environmental protection
- Conflict management
- Internal security operations
- Community integration
- Counseling
- Healing
Partners of the PNP in this program are the Technical Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Department of Health (DOH), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Tacloban Rescue Unit (TACRU), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), the Leyte provincial government, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and private institutions.
March will see a second batch of 300 drug surrenders undergoing training.
via Philippine News Agency / Roel Amazona
