Eight Mandaue City government employees positive for drugs

CEBU, Philippines - Eight out of 282 Mandaue City government employees who were subjected to a surprise drug test yesterday morning at the City Hall have been found positive for drug use.

Mandaue City Information Officer Jun Veliganio said the 282 employees and job order personnel tested were from the offices of Strategy Management, Housing Urban Development, City Assessor, City Legal, City Treasurer and City Planning.

Veliganio refused to divulge the identities and departments of those found positive, adding that a confirmatory test will be conducted for verification.

Random drug testing for officers and employees of public and private offices is already mandated under Section 36 of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, which also call for the promotion of a National Drug-Free Workplace Program.

Mayor Gabriel Luigi Quisumbing said that there will be another batch of surprise drug tests that will be conducted. There are at least 3,000 personnel working at various Mandaue City government offices.

Quisumbing warned that job order workers will be dismissed automatically if found positive for drug use, while regular employees will face administrative sanctions.

Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) Regulation 2 Series of 2017, which took effect on March 24, mandates the dismissal from the service for all public servants who are found positive for illegal drugs use in random drug tests undertaken by their respective agencies.

“Any government official/employee found positive for use of dangerous drugs shall be subjected to disciplinary/administrative proceedings with a penalty of dismissal from the service at first offense,” the new DDB regulation reads. (FREEMAN)