Some 50 drug surrenderers in Quezon Province who graduated from the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) ‘Yakap-Bayan’ Program showcased their basic firefighting and disaster-preparedness response skills during their commencement exercise held yesterday at Camp Guillermo Nakar, Lucena City.

Yakap Bayan is the DSWD’s inter-agency collaborative program for the aftercare, transformation, and reintegration support for recovering drug dependents. It aims to turn drug surrenderers into community leaders or volunteers.

The graduates, who were part of Class 01-2017 of the program, are from the cities of Lucena and Tayabas and the municipality of Tagbilao.

The former drug dependents underwent disaster-response skills trainings from the local representatives of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) during their rehabilitation. They were also provided with trainings from the Technical Education Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

During skills demonstration, the graduates showed how to manage and extinguish a fire using different firefighting equipment. They also demonstrated the basic things to do in conducting rescue operations during the event of a disaster.

“Ang layunin ng Yakap Bayan ay tulungan kayo sa inyong pagbabagong-buhay.  Kung dati ang tingin sa inyo ay mga salot ng lipunan, ngayon, kayo ay mga mamamayang kapaki-pakinabang na sa komunidad (Yakap Bayan aims to help you in your efforts to reform and recover. Before, people think of you as problems of society; now, you have become productive members of the community),” DWD Assistant Secretary for Special Concerns and the Department’s focal person for the anti-drug campaign of the administration, Jose Antonio Hernandez, said after declaring the graduates.

Manolo A. Manalo, the class president of the batch of the surrenderees, thanked the DSWD and other government agencies on behalf of his fellow graduates for the chance given to them.

“Maraming salamat sa gobyerno sa bagong pagkakataong ipinagkaloob sa amin. Sa rehab ko natutunan ang umamin sa kasalanan at makita ang mga pagkakamali ko. Asahan nyo po na ang lahat ng ibinahagi ninyo sa amin na kaalaman ay ‘di namin sasayangin. Kaming mga dating lulong ay handa nang tumulong (I thank the government for this new opportunity provided to us. It is in rehab where I’ve learned to see and admit my mistakes. Rest assured that we will not waste everything that we have learned from the program. We are now ready to help our community),” Manalo said.

Mike Tubali, another Yakap Bayan graduate said, “Salamat sa mga ahensya ng gobyerno na gumabay sa akin at sa mga kapwa ko surrenderers. Binago ako ng Yakap Bayan. Sa pagababagong ito sa aking buhay, ang pamilya ko ang aking naging inspirasyon (Thank you to the different government agencies who guided me and my fellow surrenderers. Yakap Bayan has changed me. My family is my inspiration during this phase of my life).”

Apart from demonstrating their newly-acquired skills, the surrenderers also gave a short presentation on how their life changed during their rehabilitation.

“Ang araw na ito ay hindi katapusan, bagkos ito’y simula ng pagbabago. Nawa’y gamitin ninyo ang inyong mga natutunan para tulungan ang inyong mga komunidad sa sakuna at maging produktibong myembro nito (This day is not the end, but the start of change. I hope that you will use your knowledge and skills in helping your communities during disasters),” Asec. Hernandez said.

“Sama-sama nating bawiin ang ating bayan at komunidad mula sa droga (Let us work together to take back our country and communities from drugs),” he ended.

Also present during the graduation ceremony were Presidential Adviser for Southern Tagalog Jose Ma. Hernandez, Tayabas City Mayor Ernida Reynoso, and provincial representatives from the PNP.

ICAD Cluster on Rehabilitation and Reintegration

The DSWD was initially tasked to lead the Pillar III of the National Drug Rehabilitation Program (NDRP) of the government. The pillar refers to the aftercare, reintegration and transformation support for recovering drug dependents

Subsequent to the launch of the NDRP, President Duterte issued Executive Order No. 15, Series of 2017 which became the legal basis for the creation of a new body, the Inter-Agency Committee Against Illegal Drugs (ICAD).

The ICAD was formed to ensure coordinated response and strategic intervention of all relevant national government agencies in addressing the problem of illegal drug use in the country. The DSWD, along with DOH, was tasked to co-chair the ICAD Cluster on Rehabilitation and Reintegration.

Under the cluster, the DSWD leads in developing and ensuring the implementation of aftercare, reintegration and transformation support for recovering drug dependents and their families. #