113 AFP personnel fail drug test

MANILA, Philippines - The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is investigating 113 of its enlisted personnel who failed random drug tests conducted last year, an official said yesterday.

Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala, AFP public affairs office chief, said the 113 were among the 20,000 personnel subjected to random drug checks at the Philippine Army, Philippine Air Force (PAF) and the Philippine Navy.

To rid its ranks of personnel addicted to drugs, the AFP created Task Force Moses, which supervised the conduct of random drug tests nationwide.

Zagala said 70 of those who failed the drug checks came from the Army; 18 from the Navy; 13 from personnel assigned at the AFP general headquarters at Camp Aguinaldo and those at unified commands and the AFP-wide service support units (WSSUs); and 12 from the PAF.

He said while those who failed the drug tests will be accorded due process as some may have taken prescription medicine prior to the conduct of the surprise drug tests.

The AFP noted that while the PAF, the unified commands and WSSUs have consistently registered low rates of illegal drug use, the number of drug users in the Army and Navy, particularly the Marines, is on the rise.