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Caloocan parish offers new life, hope to drug users

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Christian V. Esguerra, ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA - In this hard-up community in Caloocan where drug addiction was rampant, Carina Cruz, 26, knew it was just a matter of time before masked men riding in tandem went after her.</p><p>A known drug user, Cruz was included in the police watchlist, which she saw as her death warrant. Several people she knew had already been killed, execution-style.</p><p>&quot;Binigyan kami ng 24 hours para sumuko, para linisin yung pangalan namin,&quot; she told ABS-CBN News. </p><p>&quot;Dito samin pag namatay sa &#x27;tokhang,&#x27; hindi pinaglalamayan dahil natatakot mga tao.&quot;</p><p>Fearing for her life, she went to Fr. Luciano Felloni, the local parish&#x27;s Tagalog-speaking Argentine priest, in late 2016.</p><div><strong>&#x27;HEALING, NOT KILLING&#x27;</strong></div><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2017/news/04/12/fr-luciano-felloni.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Fr. Luciano Felloni with children from his parish in Camarin, Caloocan. <cite>Photo by Christian V. Esguerra, ABS-CBN News</cite></div></figcaption></figure></div><p>Felloni, 43, runs a parish-based rehabilitation program that shows another approach to the drug problem: healing, not killing.</p><p>&quot;You can change, you can have a better life,&quot; he told ABS-CBN News.</p><p>&quot;Ang buhay mo na kapit sa patalim ay talagang matatapos sa masama. Kung hindi ka papatayin ng sindikato, papatayin ng riding in tandem, papatayin ka ng droga.&quot;</p><p>Cruz and her husband were among the first batch of &quot;graduates&quot; of the rehabilitation program brought about by the rampant killings in Camarin, Caloocan since President Rodrigo Duterte launched his bloody war on drugs.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2017/news/04/12/soap.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Hand soap business provides steady income for Carina Cruz and fellow &#x27;graduates&#x27; of Fr. Felloni&#x27;s parish-based drug rehabilitation program. <cite>Photo by Christian V. Esguerra, ABS-CBN News</cite></div></figcaption></figure></div><p>Those &quot;desperate to live&quot; sought refuge in Felloni&#x27;s Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, which tends to some of the most drug-infested communities in the city.</p><p>Felloni teamed up with private sector volunteers and the local government for an intensive seven-month program.</p><div><strong>SECOND CHANCE</strong></div><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2017/news/04/12/certificate.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Police certification means former drug users removed from dreaded &#x27;tokhang&#x27; list. <cite>Photo by Christian V. Esguerra, ABS-CBN News</cite></div></figcaption></figure></div><p>From Monday to Saturday, trained counsellors and psychologists would gather drug users, providing professional help on how to kick the habit.</p><p>Volunteer students from the University of Santo Tomas helped Cruz and her group start a soap-making business under the label &quot;Ahon&quot; (recovery). It provided them with a steady income while undergoing rehabilitation.</p><p>A psychiatric evaluation at the end of the program is sent to city hall and the Philippine National Police, which then decides whether or not to delist a participant.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2017/news/04/12/certificate-of-completion.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Certificate of completion allows former drug users to start anew, find work after seven-month rehabilitation program. <cite>Photo by Christian V. Esguerra, ABS-CBN News</cite></div></figcaption></figure></div><p>&quot;Yun lang talaga yung gusto ko, yung matanggal yung pangalan namin kasi talagang sobrang delikado,&quot; said Cruz, who got her two certificates last March.</p><p>&quot;Pero dito sa simbahan, ang laking bagay na may naniniwala pa pala sa&#x27;yo... pinaramdam samin, especially sa akin, na kaya kong magbago. Hindi pa huli ang lahat.&quot;</p>

<p>In this hard-up community in Caloocan where drug addiction was rampant, Carina Cruz, 26, knew it was just a matter of time before masked men riding in tandem went after her.</p>

In this hard-up community in Caloocan where drug addiction was rampant, Carina Cruz, 26, knew it was just a matter of time before masked men riding in tandem went after her.

Caloocan parish offers new life, hope to drug users

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Caloocan parish offers new life, hope to drug users

Christian V. Esguerra,

ABS-CBN News

Published Apr 12, 2017 07:47 PM PHT

|

Updated Apr 13, 2017 01:52 AM PHT

Read More:

Tokhang

war against drugs

Caloocan

Luciano Felloni

Carina Cruz

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