Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said on Thursday that the Malacañang welcomes the suggestion of Senator Vicente Sotto III that the 100,000-square-meter Mega Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Center in Fort Magsaysay in Palayan, Nueva Ecija could be optimized and used as a mega drug enforcement academy.
“We welcome the suggestion of Senator Vicente Sotto III on the mega drug rehabilitation and treatment center in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement.
Roque said that the rehabilitation was built for the recovery and treatment facilities for drug users. However, it was not envisioned to be a permanent facility. He added that would be eventually passed on to the military.
“However, from the beginning, we, particularly our health officials, do not envision this to be a permanent structure. Our long-term vision is once the drug problem has been resolved, this can be turned over to the military who owns the land or other agencies of government that can utilize, manage and optimize the facility,” he added.
According to Sotto, the large-scale drug rehabilitation center is not a waste and could be utilized as an extension of the existent Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Academy.
“In line with the issue regarding the mega drug rehab center, I still believe that the facility can be put to optimum use… Aside from being just a drug rehab facility, it can also be utilized as the country’s mega drug enforcement academy,” Sotto said in a statement.
“With that size, we could produce a thousand agents per batch. Alongside PDEA, other agencies such as BOC, Immigration, PNP, and NBI can avail of the drug interdiction training program,” he added.
The establishment of the rehabilitation facility has recently gained criticisms from the public and even from former Dangerous Drugs Board Chairman Dionisio Santiago who resigned from his post after criticizing the facility.
[READ: Dionisio Santiago resigns as chairman of DDB]