23 DPWH employees found positive of illegal drug use

MAASIN CITY, Philippines – Twenty three employees of the Department of Public Works and Highways in Southern Leyte were found “positive” of drug abuse, after a drug test was conducted last August 17.

This prompted District Engineer Maria Margarita Junia to write DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson and ask on “what is the best decision” to take against the employees.

Junia ordered a surprise drug test on all of the more than 200 DPWH employees, after she was apprised that an employee was caught last March for drug pushing. The suspect allegedly claimed that the drugs were for engineers working for the engineering office.

Newly assigned to DPWH-Southern Leyte, Junia said: “Lately, these addicted engineers had contributed to the low performance of this office because, due to their addiction, their work performances were erratic and unreliable, thus their output were erroneous and needs to be reworked.”

She later asked for help from the National Bureau of Investigation-8 to facilitate the drug tests. After the findings, her office is now waiting for the results of the confirmatory tests in Manila.