Zenon B.

Paloma March 10, 2020

Constitutional Law II Atty. Sherrymae Velos-Decang

Protection Rights of the Community Based Drug Rehabilitation Program Graduates of

Valencia City, Bukidnon from unwarranted search and seizures

I. INTRODUCTION

Drug rehabilitations and Treatments of drug users and drug dependents has long been in the history of the
Philippines and have been practiced within the designated centers that follows a specific guidelines and
procedures provided by the dangerous drug board. In July of 2016 the administration of President Rodrigo
Duterte launched OPLAN TOKHANG that means Knock (Tok-tok) and plead (Hangyo) that involves police
officers to go door to door to drug related offenders and root then out. Officially, the Philippine National Police
admit that 6,500 people have been killed by officers in operations related to the drug war of President Duterte
since the launch of the policy. Rights groups, however, argue that the scale of the killings may be much larger.

On September 19, 2016, the Dangerous Drugs Board passed Board Regulation No. 4, Series of 2016, entitled
“OPLAN SAGIP – Guidelines on Voluntarily Surrender of Drug Users and Dependents and Monitoring
Mechanism of Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Campaigns.” The regulation also mandates each Local Government
Units (LGUs) through the City Anti-Drug Abuse Councils (CADACs) to facilitate the establishment of the
Community Based treatment and rehabilitation services and interventions to the surrenderers or Persons Who
Uses Drugs (PWUDs).

On September 26, 2017 the DILG issued a Memorandum Circular No. 2017 – 127 to Provincial Governors, City
and Municipality mayors, DILG Regional Directors, ARMM Regional Secretary and all other concerned agencies
the Implementation of Community Based Rehabilitation Program (CBRP) in Pursuant to the DDBs Regulation No.
4 series of 2016 entitled Oplan Sagip and on August 8, 2018 the DILG issued a memorandum order no. 2018 – 125
that provides the guidelines for the implementation of the Community based drug rehabilitation program that
allows the surenderers to enrol in a rehabilitation process that will run for eight (8) weeks or forty-eight days and
after the process the enrolees will be evaluated and undergo an unannounced drug test, enrolees who will be
negative in the test will graduate from the process and will be awarded with a certificate of Program Completion
issued by the Community Rehabilitation Network. After graduating from the CBRP the drug recovering patients
shall undergo the aftercare program to be conducted by the Department of Social and Welfare Development. In
this phase they will undergo programs which will help them be reintegrated back to their communities as
productive members.