Gov’t to convert shabu labs into drug rehab centers

TANZA, Cavite — Plans are underway to convert the 22 dismantled shabu laboratories and warehouses in Metro Manila and the provinces into drug rehabilitation and treatment centers, First Gentleman Mike Arroyo said yesterday during the inauguration of the Dr. Eva Macaraeg-Macapagal rehabilitation center in Barangay Capipisa here.

The center was once a shabu laboratory operated by Chinese drug lord Jackson Dy. "It’s a great idea. If we can do it here in Cavite, there’s no reason why we can’t do it in other dismantled shabu labs and warehouses," Mr. Arroyo said.

The First Gentleman added that it was only during the administration of President Arroyo that the government gained a major headway in the war against illegal drugs.

Deputy Director General Edgar Aglipay, head of the police Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Task Force (AID-SOTF), threw his full support to the proposal, which he said will cripple operations of illegal drug rings in the country.

The shabu laboratory here was dismantled by AID-SOTF operatives headed by Senior Superintendent Federico Laciste Jr. last July 25, a day after Dy and his wife, Wang Lina, were arrested at a hotel in Parañaque City. The raiders confiscated some 113 kilos of shabu, 700 kilos of ephedrine, a yacht, two motorcycles, two jet skis, a van and assorted shabu-making equipment.

Laciste also raided Dy’s townhouse at the Lancaster Townhomes in Pasay City last July 26 and confiscated 1,200 kilos of ephedrine. Another unit at the Marina Bay Homes in Parañaque City was raided last July 28 where some 350 kilos of shabu and 1,000 kilos of ephedrine were seized.

Since June last year, a total of 22 shabu laboratories and warehouses have been dismantled and P22 billion worth of shabu, precursors and equipment confiscated by various law enforcement agencies.

Dy, alias Li Lan Yan, was among the 31 top drug traffickers arrested by AID-SOTF.

Aglipay said it was Mrs. Arroyo who broached the idea of converting the 3,000-sq.m. lot into a drug rehabilitation center to decongest a similar facility inside the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) headquarters in Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig.

"This is the first time in the law enforcement history of our country that the fruit of a crime was converted into a facility for our government’s use," said Aglipay.

The newly opened facility will initially accommodate at least 250 drug dependents from the Southern Tagalog provinces. "The drug dependents from the provinces of Rizal, Cavite, Laguna, Quezon and Batangas will be given priority admission to the facility," said Aglipay.

Mr. Arroyo, Aglipay, Undersecretary Agnes Devanadera of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Senior Superintendent Roberto Rosales, Cavite PNP provincial director, Mayor Raymundo del Rosario and AID-SOTF officials formally opened the facility yesterday.

Del Rosario said the local government will help secure and sustain the operations of the facility. "Our drug problem here is manageable because of the sustained operations conducted by Col. Rosales. Our drug rehabilitation facility is in Tagaytay which is far away but with the opening of this facility, we expect our drug problem to be contained," he said.

Rosales said the facility will be taken over by the PNP Centers for Ultimate Rehabilitation of Drug Dependents (CUREDD) prior to its formal turnover to the Department of Health (DOH).

CUREDD director Bonaparte Francisco said the center would serve as a halfway house for drug patients undergoing rehabilitation in Camp Bagong Diwa. He said drug patients would be transferred to the facility one to two months before their release and formal re-integration to society.