This is what is certain to happen inside the Fort Magsaysay army camp in Nueva Ecija. It will take place before the year ends.
“Construction of the buildings to be used as Drug Abuse Rehabilitation Center has been on-going inside the military reservation in Fort Magsaysay since last August 28,” according to the public affairs office of the 7th Infantry Division, one of the units hosted by this sprawling army camp.
Ten hectares have been designated by Army authorities for this one of three rehabilitation centers inside an army camp in the country. Pres. Duterte earlier declared that he will order the dedication of space for drug rehabilitation centers inside the Army camp reservations in the country which still have vast open areas.
The two other camps are yet to be determined.
Camp Fort Magsaysay, established in 1955 and named after the late Pres. Ramon Magsaysay, has currently 35,000-hectare reservation (down from 73,000 hectares) that encompassed the towns of Laur, Gen. Tinio, Sta. Rosa and Gabaldon and Palayan City. About 20 kilometers east of here, it has access to the Pacific Ocean in Dingalan, Aurora and the Sierra Madre Mountain range.
Aside from the 7th ID, it hosts the AFP’s National Training Center and often used for the “Balikatan Exercises” of the US Army and the AFP. It also houses the Aquino-Diokno Memorial and Museum and the AFP Center for Human Rights Dialogue.
Under the former administration, the transfer of the NBP to a 500-hectare area within the reservation was greenlighted by the National Development and Development Authority (NEDA). A recent statement by Justice Sec. Vitaliano Aguirre said the relocation plan of the NBP to Fort Magsaysay had been scrapped.
The proposed facilities of the NBP in Fort Magsaysay was announced to accommodate up to 23,000 male and female inmates.
The 7th ID PAO said the command in Fort Magsaysay, aside from providing the rehabilitation site, is committed to provide additional security for the center. The Department of Health, it said, is in-charge of the facility and the rehabilitation of its would-be occupants.
Dr. Leonita Gorgolon, DOH director in Central Luzon, said the first of the five buildings of the DARC in Fort Magsaysay will be ready to treat patients next month. She said some 2,200 patients can be accommodated in the center for treatment.
She added that the construction of the buildings is being financed through donations of the Chinese-Filipino community. The DOH, on the other hand, has allotted P10 million for its operations.
Pres. Duterte has revealed in his visit to Indonesia last September 9 that China has fulfilled its promise to help the Philippines build a drug rehabilitation center in Fort Magsaysay.
Health Secretary Pauline Ubial, it was learned, went recently to China to sign a memorandum of understanding for the construction of a 10,000-bed mega treatment and rehabilitation center in Fort Magsaysay.
The Fort Magsaysay camp has been selected earlier as one of five Philippine bases to be utilized in the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).
Pres. Duterte, however, said in Bacolod City that his administration is reviewing the EDCAa. He noted that while it was an official document, it was just an executive agreement since it was not signed by President Benigno Aquino III.
