PALO, Leyte- About 65 drug surrenderees will be given a new lease of life by the Philippine National Police(PNP) in the region through a skills and livelihood training.
This was disclosed by Chief Supt. Gilberto Cruz, police regional director, who said that the skills and livelihood training will start this month and will be held at the regional police headquarters, this town.
In all, the activity will cover 45 days and will involve training on welding, food processing, tailoring, electronics, cell phone repair, motorcycle and bicycle repair, and massage therapy.
According to Cruz, they have originally targeted 200 former drug addicts for this activity but due to the series of calamities that hit the region, only 65 of them managed to attend the orientation held last December 19.
The police regional director also said that the beneficiaries of this training program will also undergo survival training which they can help during a calamity; traffic management, and environmental protection and preservation.
“These training that they will undergo will help them become useful again and they could be of help during times of calamities and emergencies, with them acting as rescuers,” Cruz said.
The Technical Education Skills and Development Authority(TESDA), Department of Health(DOH), the local government offices of the six provinces and seven cities, Department of Labor and Employment(DOLE), Philippine Red Cross(PRC), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Tacloban City Rescue Unit, Bureau of Fire Protection(BFP) and Newfound way Treatment Center are the partners of the program.
Among the beneficiaries of the program are ‘Gilboy’ from Samar and ‘Kimberly’ from Southern Leyte who are to undergo training on massage therapy.
Both admitted that they tried using illegal drugs but were not addicted to it.
It was their friends who persuaded them to used illegal drugs with their respective family only learned that they were into illegal drugs after they voluntarily surrendered under the government’s ‘Oplan: Tokhang.’
“I want to grab this opportunity that is why I didn’t hesitate to sign up,” Gilboy said.
Gilboy and Kimberly said that they are willing to share the skills that they will learn with their fellow drug surrenderees so that they could live a normal life again.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
