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[av_heading heading=’Santiago’s comment on drug rehab offends Duterte’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”][/av_heading]
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Thursday, November 9, 2017
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MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday said he was offended by the comment of Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) chief Dionisio Santiago that building the mega drug rehabilitation facility in Nueva Ecija was a “mistake.”
Santiago tendered his irrevocable resignation on Monday on Duterte’s orders, reportedly relayed to him by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea.
“I was offended. He (Santiago) could have asked me for an audience and tell me all about it,” Duterte told reporters before he left for Vietnam to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.
“Kaya kita inilagay diyan not to issue statements to the press,” he said. “Nilagay kita diyan para magpunta ka sa akin kung ano ang problema sa bayan at tuturuan mo kung nagkulang ako, kung ano ang dapat gawin. You don’t go open to the press and start to blabber.”
Santiago was appointed in July. Two months earlier, Duterte fired Benjamin Reyes as DDB chair for contradicting his estimate on the number of drug users in the country.
The President had said there were about 4 million Filipinos addicted to drugs while Reyes said there were only 1.8 million drug addicts.
Santiago, a former military chief and head of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, made the comment in an interview on ANC’s “Headstart” on Nov. 1.
The money for the Mega Treatment and Rehabilitation Center in Nueva Ecija could have been used to fund smaller community-based rehabilitation programs, he said.
The rehab center was a key project under the Duterte administration’s war on drugs built in partnership with philanthropists led by Chinese tycoon Huang Rulun.
“That was a mistake. Ang problema, naging excited si President. Iyong ginasta doon, puwedeng ginamit sa mga community-based rehab iyon, malilit which can only accommodate siguro mga 150 to 200,” Santiago told “Headstart.”
Admitting drug dependents to the treatment center would be difficult due to its location, he said. (ABS-CBN News)
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