Tacloban mayor lends hand to former druggies

TACLOBAN CITY — The local government here is keen on giving former drug dependents a second chance in life as Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez is offering them jobs to sustain their livelihood.

One example is former drug dependent Jennelyn Manocsoc, who was recently given a permanent job at the city government, giving her family a new hope of a better future.

Manocsoc spoke in front of over 1,000 participants in the city's Anti-Drug Summit 2022 on 24 November to give a testimony on her life as a former drug dependent and how the city's drug rehabilitation program helped her overcome the addiction and transformed her to a productive member of her community.

While on drug rehabilitation program, Manocsoc said then Tacloban City Police chief Lt. Col. Michael David helped her become a job order employee for the local government. With her dedication to work, the city government made her a casual employee, a status she kept for three years until Romualdez announced during the anti-drug summit that she will be made as a regular employee at the city hall.

"Whatever faults that you had committed in the past should not define the person that you are, it is on how you rise from the situation," Manocsoc told the crowd.

Meantime, Romualdez stressed that the city government remains vigilant as the Tacloban City police office has seen an increasing number of people caught in anti-drug operations in recent months.

"There is considerable number of people that are getting caught. The good leadership is preventing the situation from becoming an emergency," Romualdez told Daily Tribune.

He added that the city government's anti-drug campaign is focused on demand reduction such as strengthening the anti-drug campaign at the barangay level.

"We are continually giving hope to those who got involved in drugs. We are enrolling them in a rehabilitation program, we are closely monitoring them and helping them in their livelihood," Romualdez said.