Jobs for rehabilitated addicts in Munti

Muntinlupa City Vice Mayor Jo Jason Alcaraz said that rehabilitated drug dependents who "graduate" from the city’s newest rehabilitation center will be provided with job opportunities.

Alcaraz said the city government recognizes the "difficulty" faced by former dependents in looking for jobs and going back into the mainstream society.

"There will be jobs available for them here in the city but we will also help them find jobs in other places in Metro Manila," Alcaraz told The STAR. This endeavor will be done with the help of Balayti Aweng Foundation, which also helps New Bilibid Prisons’ inmates who graduate from the University of Perpetual Help Rizal find jobs after serving their sentence.

The Muntinlupa City government launched last week the Muntinlupa Renewal Home (MRH) for drug dependents seeking rehabilitation. The program has a "family-oriented" approach, Alcaraz said. This was patterned after a renewal home in Minnesota in the United States.

Muntinlupa’s rehabilitation program is said to be the first of its kind initiated by a local government unit.

MRH’s facility is located in Barangay Putatan and received P500,000 in funding from the city government. The center largely relies on sponsorships from private companies and non-government organizations. MRH caters mostly to clients from the C-D classes. However, the vice mayor clarified that clients will have to pay for the program but their financial capability will be assessed by the MRH. Fees can amount to less than P10,000.

Alcaraz said that within six months of its implementation, the MRH will be turned over to the Philippine Renewal Homes Foundation, Inc., a non-stock and non-profit foundation.

Alcaraz said "turning over MRH will ensure its continuity, especially if there will be a change in (city) government and will also lessen the political pressure."

MRH started to operate Wednesday, with six patients, the youngest of whom is a 14-year-old boy who had been hooked on shabu since he was 12, Alcaraz said.– Nikko Dizon