LAMITAN CITY — The local government here formally inaugurated the P4.5-million "Balay Silangan" Reformatory Center in Barangay Maganda to serve as an intervention for the reformation of drug-dependent personalities and pushers.

In an interview on Thursday, Mayor Oric Furigay said that the local government formally opened the Balay Silangan Reformatory Center in R.O.S.E. Ville, Little Cebu, Barangay Maganda on Wednesday.

Furigay said that top government, police and military officials attended the inauguration of the center that will eventually serve as a rehabilitation center for drug dependents, drug pushers and plea bargainers.

He added that while at the center, these drug dependents will undergo a three-month reformation program which includes one month of mandatory in-house for Education, Health, Psychosocial and Physical Activities and two months of Livelihood or Employment Education phase.

"The project was completed in 2020 but was utilized as an isolation facility at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, hence the inauguration was delayed up until 13 September," Furigay said.

"The Balay Silangan Reformatory Center offers a new hope for those who have lost their way in the community. This was constructed through a collaboration of the City Government of Lamitan and the provincial government of Basilan," he added.

For his part, Basilan Governor Jim Hataman Salliman said that a good number of drug dependents have surrendered, both peddlers and users and about 50 percent of the total barangays here have now been cleared of illegal drugs.

He added that the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency also cleared about 50 percent of the barangays in the entire province of Basilan.