EDITORIAL - Kick drug users out of City Hall

Before the year 2019 ended, Cebu City vice mayor Michael Rama said ridding City Hall of drug users can be achieved with constant screening from the City Office for Substance Abuse Prevention (COSAP).

To recall, before the end of last year, and after all the surprise drug tests conducted by COSAP, a total of 57 city employees were found positive for drugs use.

While it should be mentioned that these results are still subject to confirmatory testing, it should also be pointed out that the number of people working for the city testing positive for drugs has never been higher --an infamous record of sorts. And to think not all City Hall employees in the different offices and departments have been tested for illegal drug use.

We sincerely hope that all drug users will be removed from all city offices.

We have no reason to doubt Rama’s conviction in pursuing this cause. It might even be right to say he has a personal motivation in going after drug users after being tagged a drug protector for so many years, and only escaping the shadow of that tag recently.

Along this line it should also be our responsibility as citizens to help City Hall get rid of employees who don’t belong there, owing to their use of illegal substances.

If anyone happens to know someone who is working for the city and who also happens to be under the thrall of addiction, then it is that person’s duty to inform the authorities.

Whether they like it or not, even the lowliest city employee represents City Hall in one way or another, regardless of rank or designation. One cannot help but look at any individual as representing the entire institution he or she works for.

And for that representative to be found using what is the scourge of today’s society presents the government of the country’s second most powerful and influential city in a very bad light indeed.