Balanga City Justice Zone launches drug rehab program

The Balanga City Justice Zone (BCJZ) on Thursday launched a program that will focus on the rehabilitation of drug offenders and their reintegration into society.

According to the Supreme Court in a statement, Balanga City Regional Trial Court Executive Judge Marion Jacqueline Poblete said the Bataan Collaborative Action for Rehabilitation, Empowerment, and Support (Bataan CARES) seeks to curb the proliferation of illegal drugs in the area.

Under the program, those undergoing rehabilitation will be placed under 30-day confinement in rehabilitation centers, after which they will join community-based programs.

Further, Poblete said, the program seeks to strengthen the capacity of the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council through training and familiarization with the legal process.

The BCJZ will also prepare a manual to ensure that the program will continue.

Justice Zones are localities with the objective of "a swift and fair administration of the criminal justice system." Inside a Justice Zone, judges, PAO lawyers, and prosecutors in court branches should be able to easily coordinate their schedules, eliminating postponements due to unavailability.

The Justice Zones project was created by the Justice Sector Coordinating Council (JSCC), which is composed of the Supreme Court, the Department of Justice, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

The BCJZ is the eighth Justice Zone to be created. 

The BCJZ developed its drug rehab program after finding that most of the cases filed in court were drug-related and that most of the residents at rehabilitation centers were indigent residents of the city. Of these, 75% were persons deprived of liberties who were repeat offenders.

The event was attended by Associate Justice Maria Filomena Singh, who also serves as the Chairperson of the JSCC's Technical Working Group on Processes and Capacity Building.

“We will give you all the support that we can… all three [JSCC] principals are committed to support this,” Singh said in a statement.

Several local officials, prosecutors, judges, police officers, and representatives of the Public Attorneys’ Office and Integrated Bar if the Philippines also signed a wall of commitment. — Joahna Lei Casilao/BM, GMA Integrated News