Resign, Osmeña tell drug-positive workers

CEBU, Philippines - At least 12 Cebu City Hall employees are at risk of losing their jobs after testing positive of illegal drugs use.

Doctor Alice Utlang, head of the Cebu City Office of Substance Abuse Prevention (COSAP), confirmed that 12 out of 616 city employees were found positive of illegal drugs.

Of the 12, five of them are assigned at the Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW), four at the City Parks and Playgrounds Commission, one at the Department of Public Services while two are new hires.

Utlang said Mayor Tomas Osmeña wants the casual and job order personnel who tested positive to tender their resignation letters.

Meanwhile, 86 of the 1,550 barangay workers also tested positive of illegal drug use.  Of the 86, 57 were loaders, 16 tanods, 10 drivers, one street cleaner, traffic aide, and maintenance employee.

The series of surprise drug tests were conducted in the months of February, March and April.

New Trainings

In a separate development, personnel in charge of handling the rehabilitation of drug surrenderers in Cebu province will undergo trainings anew based on the framework of the Department of Health.

The Cebu Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Office (CPADAO) has finished training health workers from 1,066 barangays using the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory (SASSI), but DOH said it has the mandate to set framework for the rehabilitation program.

The CPADAO trainings, though, will not be put to waste as they will be incorporated in the DOH’s framework, CPADAO Executive Director Ivy Durano-Meca said.

Meca said several barangays have already implemented the community-based treatment (CBT) program but majority are still working on the capability enhancement.

“We’ve done already conducting CBT for the entire seven (legislative) districts. We started prior to the DOH mandate, so na-establish na nato. But we are obliged to follow their directives maong mag-usab na pud ta,” Meca said.

The DOH provides the use of the Matrix Intensive Outpatient Program (MIOP) as a treatment program for drug surrenderers, and alcohol, smoking and substance involvement screening test – brief intervention (ASSIST-BI) as an assessment tool.

The ASSIST was developed by an international group of substance abuse researchers for the World Health Organization (WHO) “to detect and manage substance use and related problems in primary and general medical care setting.”

On May 3 to 5, DOH together with CPADAO trained health personnel from the province’s south and north areas that would help them in training barangay health workers.

The CPADAO will choose at least two barangays from each town and city in the province as pilot areas for the drug treatment program.

CPADAO will be choose two barangays from the cities of Naga and Carcar in the first district; Argao and Samboan towns in the second district; Tuburan and Aloguinsan towns in the third district; Bogo City and Madridejos and San Remigio towns in the fourth district; Danao City and San Francisco in Camotes island in the fifth district; Consolacion and Cordova towns in sixth district; Badian and Dumanjug towns in the seventh district.

Aid

Meanwhile, the Department of Social Welfare and Development-7 has extended a total of P12,000 in financial assistance to drug surrenders who completed Cebu City’s community-based treatment program dubbed “We Care.”

Doctor Alice Utlang, head of the Cebu City Office for Substance Abuse Prevention, said each six drug surrenderers received P2,000 that was used to buy for their grocery items.

Of the more than 70 enrollees in Barangay Buhisan, the six finished the outpatient treatment program for three months. —Nova E. Valizado, CNU Intern/KBQ (FREEMAN)