“If you don’t stop your old ways, you are going to use the casket you made yourself,” said Olongapo City mayor Rolen Paulino to a crowd of 400 drug users who surrendered to the government last Friday.
It was probably said in jest, but his message was clear: Drug criminals are not welcome in his part of town.
Mayor Paulino asked confessed drug pushers and users to help the city make caskets as a form of rehabilitation. The caskets will be given for Olongapo residents who could not afford one.
“There were people who died because they didn’t have money to buy medicine. So how can their family afford a casket worth at least P20,000?” Paulino said in an Inquirer report.
The project will also be a source of livelihood for criminals who are now given a second chance for their families.
The city government is also considering the possibility of asking those who surrendered to make re-usable bags, since Olongapo has a ban on using plastic bags.
Senior Supt. Jerry Sumbad, acting Olongapo City police chief, said that he was happy that many users and pushers in their area decided to surrender.
As of Friday, 13,680 suspected users and pushers in Central Luzon are now in the cutody of the police or the local governments.
