By Mae Singuay
The Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) warned the 53 regular and job order employees of the city government who were tested positive for illegal drug use to voluntarily surrender.
“Lahat ng nag-positive, pumunta kayo sa akin at mag-surrender na kayo. Wina-warningan ko sila,” BCPO director, Police Colonel Noel Aliño said.
“Sabihin nila kung saan nanggaling ang droga, hindi ako nagbibiro,” he added.
Aliño said if employees do not surrender, they will be subject for monitoring and investigation.
He also explained the city police have drug rehabilitation programs.
Aliño clarified that the surrender is only voluntary, and police will not oblige them.
Those who yielded positive drug test results were four regular and 31 job order employees from the Bacolod Traffic Authority Office and 21 from the Public Order and Safety Office.
Primitivo Tabujara, City Anti-Drug Abuse Council coordinator and focal person, said they will coordinate with BCPO regarding the matter.
He said the city police will be tasked to conduct profiling for employees who may want to undergo drug rehabilitation.
Tabujara said they are convincing city government workers who tested positive for illegal drugs to participate in the conduct of drug use assessment, rehabilitation and other intervention treatment programs by the City Health Office.
No ordinance needed
Meanwhile, the City Legal Office (CLO) said there is no need for an ordinance to conduct mandatory drug tests in the city government.
CLO head, Romeo Carlos Ting Jr., said they have a basis to conduct mandatory drug tests even without an ordinance or if it has yet to be approved.
He said, under Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, “officers and employees of public and private offices shall be subjected to undergo a random drug test for the purpose of reducing the risk in the workplace.”
“Any officer or employee found positive for use of dangerous drugs shall be a ground for suspension or termination, subject to the provisions of Article 282 of the Labor Code and pertinent provisions of the Civil Service Law,” it added.
The same law also said “that an authorized drug test shall be done by any government forensic laboratory or by any of the drug testing laboratories accredited and monitored by the Department of Health to safeguard the quality of test results.”
Ting said another basis of the local government unit to conduct drug tests is the Civil Service Commission’s memorandum circular no. 13.
There is a pending proposed city ordinance to conduct mandatory drug tests for a drug-free workplace.
City Administrator Pacifico Maghari III said all city hall employees will undergo random drug testing next week./MS, WDJ