The proposed 500-hectare drug rehabilitation center in Bohol will be established in Cortes instead of Carmen, the previously proposed site for the facility, said a Capitol official.

Liza Quirog, coordinator of the Socio-Economic and Environmental Management (SEEM) Cluster, told the Chronicle that the treatment facility for drug dependents will be built in Barangay Malayo, Cortes.

The establishment will be part of the proposed “health and wellness complex” in Cortes where the Governor Celestino Gallares Memorial Regional Hospital and Bohol Youth Home are set to be constructed.

According to Quirog, the plan’s alteration was agreed upon by Governor Edgar Chatto and Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco in a dialogue between the two officials on Thursday.

Quirog said that funds for the proposed facility’s water and electricity consumption were not part of the national government’s development plan.

She cited this as possible factor behind the sudden change in the project’s direction.

The proposed 24-hectare site in Cortes has an easier access to electricity as it is near the main road and is only 8 kilometers from provincial capital Tagbilaran City, Quirog added.

Previously, the drug rehabilitation center was set to be established inside a military compound in Carmen through financial assistance from Philippine-based Chinese businessmen.

The facility was planned to be similar but smaller than the mega drug rehabilitation center in Nueva Ecija which was designed to cater to 10,000 drug dependents.

Meanwhile, the new drug rehabilitation site will also house the proposed P10-million Bohol Youth Home, a facility for underage delinquents.

Two sites were previously considered as location of the facility, Bilar and Albur.

However, both were scrapped as options as Bilar is considered a tourism center while budget estimation for land development in Alburquerque was found to be expensive. (Rey Tutas)