Three Capitol employees found positive of drug use

CEBU, Philippines —Three employees of the Cebu provincial government were found positive of illegal drugs in the random drug testing at the Capitol last Wednesday.

The samples are scheduled to be sent for confirmatory testing to verify the initial results.

Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III said that if the status of those employees found positive is job order (JO), it will result in the termination of their employment contract.

If those found positive is a regular or casual employee, the individual will have to be investigated by the Committee on Discipline and Investigation (CODI).

Cebu Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Office (CPADAO) Chief Carmen Ivy Remedios Durano-Meca said that the drug positive employees will have to take an assessment to determine their level of drug dependence after the confirmatory test results are out.

After which, the office will recommend what treatment program should the individual undergo.

The treatment will have to be funded by the individual himself or his family.

“Ang sa karon, sa Civil Service nga memorandum, you (drug positive employee) have to submit yourself voluntarily for rehabilitation. If not, then you are sanctioned for admin case,” she told reporters.

If the level of drug dependence is low, a casual or regular employee may still report on duty but need to attend to his treatment at the Department of Health (DOH) once a week during the weekend.

At least 500 individuals were asked to join the random drug testing at the Social Hall last Wednesday. Some of the participants were department heads at the Capitol.

The names were electronically drawn. Aside from the random mandatory drug testing, a drug awareness prevention program for the employees of the executive and legislative departments was conducted.

Meca said that this was the first drug testing for Capitol employees this year as well as the first time that CPADAO held an internal seminar on illegal drugs. — GAN (FREEMAN)