Palace welcomes proposal to turn mega rehab center into drug enforcement academy

Malacañang on Thursday welcomed Senator Vicente Sotto III's proposal to turn the 10,000-bed mega drug rehabilitation center in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija, into a drug enforcement academy.

In a statement, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the rehabilitation center — a donation from a Chinese businessman — was not envisioned to be a permanent structure.

He said since the Duterte administration's goal is to eradicate the country's drug problem, the P1.4-billion center could be used by other government agencies.

“If you would recall, the 10,000-bed mega-facility was built for the recovery and treatment of drug addicts in the country.  However, from the beginning, we, particularly our health officials, do not envision this to be a permanent structure,” Roque said.

“Our long-term vision is once the drug problem has been resolved, this can be turned over to the military who owns the land or other agencies of government that can utilize, manage and optimize the facility.”

The drug rehab center was the subject of the disagreement between President Rodrigo Duterte and former Dangerous Drugs Board chairperson Dionisio Santiago, who was told to resign after he said the construction of the facility was a mistake.

Roque said no government funds were used in the construction of the rehabilitation center as it was funded by Chinese businessman Huang Rulun.  —KBK, GMA News