200 drug surrenderers in Region 8 join skills training

PALO, Leyte, Jan. 4  -- The Philippine National Police (PNP) regional office here will start this January the skills and livelihood training for 200 self-confessed drug personalities in Eastern Visayas.

PNP Eastern Visayas Regional Director Chief Supt. Gilberto Cruz said on Wednesday that 65 drug surrenderers from the region’s six provinces would join the first batch of 45-day training at the police regional headquarters in this town. The second group would join a similar training in March.

The initiative is in partnership with Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Department of Health, local governments from six provinces and seven cities, Department of Labor and Employment, Philippine Red Cross, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Tacloban City Rescue Unit, Bureau of Fire Protection and Newfoundway Treatment Center.

Cruz said the skills training would include welding, food processing, tailoring, electronics, mobile phone repair, motorcycle and bicycle repair, and massage therapy.

Those who will complete the training will receive certificates from TESDA.

The trainees will also undergo disaster and risk management training, rescue operation during emergencies, traffic management, and environmental protection and preservation.

“Those are the trainings they have to undergo so they can start a new life and also be useful and helpful during times of calamities and emergencies,” Cruz added.

Among the beneficiaries of the program are Gilboy from Samar and Kimberly from Southern Leyte (not their real names). Both of them will take the training on massage therapy.

The two recalled that their friends influenced them to use illegal drugs. Their family only learned that they are into it after President Rodrigo Duterte launched his anti-drug war.

Gilboy is one of those who volunteered to undergo the program while Kimberly is the only female beneficiary.

“I want to grab this opportunity that is why I didn’t hesitate to sign up for this training,” Gilboy said.

With the certificate after the training, he is confident of landing a job and to live a normal and productive life.

For Kimberly, even if she’s the only female in the group, she takes it as an opportunity to show that she is capable of becoming a productive worker.

“Although, I feel uncomfortable because I am the only female in this group, but my desire to change my life and be a better person is stronger,” Kimberly shared. (RTA/PNA)