CL drug rehab center cash-strapped

MAGALANG, Pampanga — Some 600 wards of the Central Luzon Drug Rehabilitation Center (CLDRC) here, the only such facility in the region, face hunger due to the lack of funds for their basic needs.

In fact, suppliers have threatened to halt food supply to the center due to its failure to settle P2 million in unpaid bills in the last two months.

The CLDRC management has run out of financial resources to settle its debts, said Tess Cordero, the center’s accounting chief.

The CLDRC is supposed to get a P13-million annual budget from the Office of the President, but no funds have so far been released this year.

The center also receives donations from various local sectors. The families of drug dependents undergoing rehab are also encouraged to donate P2,500 per month.

Dr. Rio Magpantay, acting assistant Central Luzon director of the Department of Health, said he is reviewing a proposal for his department to take over the CLDRC, which has already stopped accepting new drug dependents.

"I am supporting the move provided that enough funds are made available for the operations of the facility," Magpantay told The Star.

The Philippine National Police put up the CLDRC as a foundation in March 2000. A board of trustees from local government units and the private sector runs it.

The center has rehabilitated at least 4,000 drug dependents since it was established.

Cordero warned that the well-being of the center’s wards, whose rehabilitation lasts for six months, would be adversely affected should the suppliers carry out their plans.

Unless funds are released soon, she said the drug dependents might be asked to go home even without completing their rehabilitation.

Last year, controversies hounded the CLDRC after a trustee exposed alleged irregularities which he described as "violations of good corporate governance."

Another CLDRC official, however, belied the allegations, claiming that drug lords merely concocted them.

The center maintains 32 air-conditioned rooms for conjugal visits for its married wards. It charges P600 for the use of a room.