In the year 2000 until the first quarter of 2001, the 6th Regional Narcotics Office (RNO) recorded a total of 1, 307 persons arrested due to drug related offenses.  Of these, 751 were filed in court.  For the same period, there were a total of 866 reported cases of drug abuse region wide.  Due to the stigma attached by society to drug dependents, a large number of cases have probably gone “unreported.”

Realizing the alarming growth of drug abuse in Western Visayas and its consequences, the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC), established the Western Visayas Drug Rehabilitation Center (WVDRC).  This project was borne out of the need for measures to stop the spread of the drug menace in the region through proper and economical rehabilitation of drug dependents.

Through a memorandum of agreement signed by the incumbent RPOC Chairman Capiz Governor Vicente C. Bermejo, representing the RPOC, and Governor Arthur D. Defensor, representing Iloilo Province, on April 26, 2000, the council leased the existing building and lot at Brgy. Rumbang, Pototan, Iloilo for Php 1.00 a year for 50 years. The center was then operated by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and eventually by the Philippine National Police.

In October 10, 2005, Department of Health issued the Department Order No. 2005 – 0052  mandating the regulation, overseeing and monitoring the integration, coordination and supervision of all drug rehabilitation, intervention, aftercare and follow-up programs, projects and activities as well as the establishment, operation, maintenance and management of privately owned drug treatment rehabilitation center. Read more…