BATAAN SITE OF 2ND CL REHAB CENTER

PILAR, Bataan: The Dangerous Drugs Board has approved the initial
release of P4 million, part of the P15 million earmarked for the
rehabilitation of the former Kabataang Barangay Center at the foot of
the historic Mount Samat.

Mayor Carlos Pizarro Jr. said on Thursday that the structure, located
on a 2.1-hectare land in Batangas Tres, Barangay Liyang, will become
the Bataan Drug Rehabilitation Center. This will be the second in
Central Luzon; the other one is in Magalang, Pampanga.

Pizarro said the place is the first to be erected under Republic Act
9165, the comprehensive drugs act, mandating the creation of drug
rehabilitation centers in every region and province in the country.

The center can accommodate 100 patients supervised by an
administrator, who will train for four months in the United States.
"The center will help my town generate, together with tourism
projects, more employment because it will not only be serving Bataan
but also other Central Luzon provinces," Pizarro said.

The presence of the facility in the town could help raise drug
awareness among the people, Pizarro said. As of the latest police
account, 163 persons in Pilar have been involved in drug abuse.

The Pilar center will be ready before the end of the first quarter of
next year.

Rep. Roquito Ablan of Ilocos Norte, chairman of the House Committee on
Dangerous Drugs, visited Liyang on Friday and inspected the center
built by then national KB president Imee Marcos, now a congresswoman
from Ilocos Norte.

The center had hosted various activities for the youth from Bataan and
other Luzon provinces.