PNP to work with DOH on student drug abuse

The Philippine National Police (PNP) is verifying reports from the Department of Health (DOH) that some 770,000 students are now hooked on drugs.

PNP chief Director General Arturo Lomibao said the police would come up with its own programs to dissuade students from using illegal drugs.

"We will coordinate with the DOH, and if that is really what is in their statistics, I think what should be done next is to win them over to stop them from being hooked on drugs," he said.

Lomibao said he has offered the use of the PNP’s Center for the Ultimate Rehabilitation of Drug Dependents (CUREDD) to help treat students who have fallen prey to substance abuse.

After the DOH reported that 770,000 students were using drugs, Lomibao asked Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operation Task Force chief Director Marcelo Ele Jr. to investigate the matter.

The AID-SOTF together with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) has been embarking on community-based program to stop the proliferation of illegal drugs.

Meanwhile, Lomibao said the PNP is willing to shoulder the P1.7-million accumulated hospital expenses of ousted President Joseph Estrada during his more than two years of detention at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City. — Cecille Suerte Felipe