San Miguel, gov’t to build drug rehab center in Bataan

Delivering on an earlier commitment to support the Duterte administration’s campaign against illegal narcotics, San Miguel Corporation on Wednesday announced a deal to build a drug rehabilitation facility in the province of Bataan.

The facility, which will be built by the San Miguel Foundation, is the first of several that the company will build under a P1-billion donation it pledged to the government in August of this year.

READ: SMC donates P1-B to gov’t for drug rehab centers

“We’re fully supportive of our government’s anti-drug dependency efforts,” San Miguel president and COO Ramon Ang said. “We want to be able to do our part in helping drug dependents reform, especially the youth. With the right guidance, we’re hopeful they can re-enter society with positivity and become productive individuals.”

The agreement was signed at the conglomerate’s Mandaluyong City headquarters by Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr., Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Ismael Sueno, Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Paulyn Jean Rosell-Ubial, Bataan Provincial Governor Albert Garcia, non-profit Pilipinong May Puso Foundation Inc. (PMPF) chair Rowena Kristina Amara Velasco, and Ang.

Under the agreement, SMC will provide funding and undertake construction of the rehabilitation facility. It will be built on land identified and provided by the Bataan provincial government. The DOH, which will run and maintain the facility, and provide the specifications for its construction in consultation with the DILG and the Office of the President.

Meanwhile, PMPF will develop and provide sustainable livelihood programs and capability-building activities for recovering drug dependents. It will also provide skills training at the facility. These will include modules on entrepreneurship, handicrafts, basic computer and information technology skills, horticulture and animal raising, among others.

“This is why we are putting a lot of energy and thought into this program,” Ang said. “More than just a physical structure, we want this facility to have significant meaning to many families who have been affected by illegal drugs. We hope it will provide former drug users the means to truly change their lives for the better, for good.” JE