GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese-financed drug rehabilitation center in southern Philippines' Sarangani province has been completed and handed over to the local government, officials from China and the Philippines announced on Monday.
The facility, called SOCCSKSARGEN Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Center, is located in Sarangani as the first Chinese-aid construction in the Philippines.
The Chinese embassy said the center, which has a floor area of 6,707.6 square meter, can accommodate approximately 150 beds in its administration and clinic building. There is a multi-purpose covered court, dormitory building, workshop building and visitor's hall in the center undertaken by China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC).
"It's a center of hope and new life. The completion of the center fully demonstrate that Chinese government will never let Filipinos down," said Jin Yuan, Chinese embassy's Economic and Commercial Counsellor.
"Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte prioritize the economic growth and people's well-being, and China is and will always be a good neighbor, heartfelt friend, close partner of the Philippines," he said, adding that China firmly supports Duterte's effort in improving people's health.
The drug rehabilitation center project, broke ground in January 2018, was initially expected to be completed within 21 months. "Thanks to the cooperation between the two countries and the hard-working of Chinese, local workers, the term shortened to nearly 11 months," said Yao Shanfa, the project director of CSCEC.
According to Yao, the center will offer inpatient rehabilitation, outpatient aftercare, drug dependency examination, drug testing and counseling services for Filipinos, especially southern Philippine drug addicts after being operational by January 2019.
"The construction company hired hundreds of local workers and use local equipment to ensure that residents around the province benefit from the construction of the project," Yao added.
Francisco Duque, the secretary of the Philippine Department of Health, also attended the inauguration and hand-over ceremony on Monday to unveil the facility along with Chinese officials.
"It is further declared that the state shall provide effective mechanism and measures to reintegrate into society the individuals who have fallen victims to drug abuse or dangerous drug dependence through a sustainable program of treatment and rehabilitation," Duque said.
In October 2016, Duterte visited Beijing and reached an agreement with China on the building of drug rehabilitation centers in the Philippines.
China firmly supports the Philippine government's efforts in fighting against illicit drugs and drug-related crimes. In 2017, the Chinese and Philippine governments announced that China would help to build two drug rehabilitation centers in Sarangani and Agusan del Sur in southern Philippines.
The Philippine government under Duterte launched the anti-drug campaign when he assumed the presidency on June 30, 2016.
According to Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, the country's anti-drug law enforcement authority, there are estimated 3.7 million drug addicts in the Philippines.
