Apas high school students undergo drug tests

CEBU, Philippines - Health personnel of the Department of Education yesterday conducted random drug testing at the Camp Lapu-Lapu National High School in barangay Apas, the 12th of the 123 secondary schools in Cebu City targeted for the tests.

DepEd Cebu City Division alone has assigned five teams to facilitate the tests. Members of the teams underwent training and orientation last February 23 conducted by health personnel from Manila.

The teams working for the tests are all health personnel of DepEd-7 who were trained and oriented last February 23 by health personnel from Manila.

The other 11 schools subjected to the tests include the Don Sergio Osmeña High School, Don Carlos Gothong Memorial National High School, Saint Mary’s High School, Saint Paul High School, Bethany Christian School, Ramon Duterte Memorial National High School, Abellana National High School, and Cebu Eastern College.

The team visits three to four schools everyday from Monday to Saturday.

DepEd-7 Cebu City Division Nurse Joy Lataza, the program’s coordinator, said tests conducted in the 12 schools have so far yielded negative results.

The parents are even reportedly requesting that the tests be done on all students so they would know if their children are taking drugs.

Lataza said the teams have strictly followed the procedure in conducting the tests- randomly selecting the students without bias, explaining to students how they were selected and how the tests would be done, and emphasizing the confidentiality of the test result.

Meanwhile, the Dangerous Drugs Board announced that the tests in tertiary students will be conducted next school year due to time constraints.

College students are supposed to undergo the random testing this opening of classes in June tests in high schools might not be completed by that time, said DDB Secretary Vicente Sotto III.

Sotto announced tests in Manila have shown positive results with only less than one percent of students testing positive of drug use. Sotto said he is expecting more tertiary students to be positive in the tests than high school students.

DDB is set to release a complete recent 2008 national survey on prevalence of drug use and dependence in two weeks time.

Sotto said that certain validations are already being undertaken to make the survey more reliable. Initial results of the survey reportedly showed some improvement compared to the results three years ago.

Sotto said those who will be test positive for drug use would have to undergo a confirmatory test. If the test results would be confirmed, the students would then be made to undergo counseling. He said parents may even opt to place their children in rehabilitation centers.

“The rehabilitation centers are under DOH and the people are under this misconception that rehabilitation is expensive, they are not,” Sotto said.

Palo Rustico Apolonio, technical administrator of the Cebu City Treatment and Rehabilitation Center at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, said there are other affordable centers in Cebu City and even in Argao town.

Parents who choose to subject their children to rehabilitation will be assessed by a social worker to determine if they can afford the P3,000 monthly fee. If not, Apolonio said other means would be put in place. – Jessica Ann Pareja and AJ de la Torre/JMO (THE FREEMAN)