Novaliches intensifies drug rehab program

MANILA – According to one of the facilitators of Abot Kamay Alang-alang sa Pagbabago (AKAP), the Diocese of Novaliches Community-Based Drug Rehabilitation Program (CBDRP), the diocese is currently deepening and widening the scope of its service for drug dependents who want to kick the habit.

“Hopefully, we would be able to reach out to the four vicariates of the North Caloocan City area, which is where I belong and which is now part of the plan,” said Rodrigo Quiambao in an interview held at the Ateneo De Manila University (ADMU) during the Katatagan Kontra Droga Sa Komunidad seminar spearheaded by the Psychological Association of the Philippines (PAP) on Feb. 8.

Currently, the CBDRP in charge of the North Caloocan City area is spearheaded by Argentinian priest Fr. Luciano Felloni of the Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Camarin, which belongs to the Our Lady of Lourdes vicariate. The program is more parish-based than vicariate-wide, such as in the Sto. Nino Parish of Bagong Silang under the Sto. Niño vicariate.

Wider area

An expansion is in the works to cover the other three remaining vicariates of Christ the King, Holy Cross, and Sto. Niño–encompassing a total of 27 more parishes—after the sharing of best practices at the Katatagan Kontra Droga seminar.

“By that time, we expect to provide the program to a wider area for those who wish to change their lives,” he said, referring to drug dependents served by AKAP, which the diocese launched in September 2016 at the height of the extra judicial killings (EJK) and the government’s all-out war against drugs.

Quiambao, vicariate lay coordinator of Christ The King, added that his and five other diocesan delegates’ participation in the PAP Katatagan Kontra Droga seminar is one of the diocese’s moves to strengthen AKAP.

He shared in Filipino that PAP’s seminar is a “refresher course for facilitators” from various dioceses and cities of Metro Manila “to have a mastery of facilitating the modules of Katatagan Kontra Droga.”

According to Quiambao, the program also included simulation of PAP modules.

He is actually happy to see participants from the cities of Marikina and San Juan now engaged in PAP’s program for CBDRP since it previously only involved Quezon City. He also cited that the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) was present during PAP’s five-day seminar that started Feb. 5.

After-care module

Of PAP’s 15 modules, 12 are for the surrenderees, he explained, while three modules are for the family. After undergoing the modules, participants also undergo a separate after-care module once they graduate from the program, Quiambao added.

In the Diocese of Novaliches, the program is currently being implemented mostly in the
parishes near Commonwealth Avenue as well as in the Quirino-Tandang Sora Area, specifically in the Shrine of Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Novaliches Bayan.

AKAP is an ongoing program that involves only 12 out of the 69 parishes of the diocese. According to the event secretariat, the Katatagan Kontra Droga Sa Komunidad seminar was conducted by 18 coaches for 91 participants or stakeholders engaged in drug rehabilitation. The Ateneo De Manila University’s Psychology Department and the Psychologists Association of the Philippines partnered for the said event. CBCPNews