EDITORIAL - Drug-free City Hall

At least eight Cebu City Hall employees are facing termination after they were found positive for illegal drugs during a drug test conducted by the Cebu City Office for Substance Abuse Prevention (COSAP) last Friday.

COSAP chief Garry Lao has recommended the termination from work of these workers who are from the offices of parks and playgrounds and peace and order, although the results are still subject to a confirmatory test.

Once the confirmatory test shows they are indeed positive for illegal drugs, the eight employees should be immediately terminated from service. Government employment must have no room for those who abuse drugs.

Good thing the city government is doing well in its effort to make City Hall a drug-free workplace. COSAP is really living up to public expectation as a gatekeeper against illegal drug use among government employees.

We still believe there are other City Hall workers who are into drugs but have continued to evade the authorities. These employees have mastered the art of cheating, employing every scheme to pass the drug test.

The city government and COSAP still have a long way to go to ensure that City Hall is not a place for those who are into drugs. One sure way of ridding the city government of drug addicts is the need to implement a thorough screening of job applicants.

City Hall should not also be content with the fact that a qualified ‘clean’ applicant can already be allowed to enter the workforce. There are instances when an applicant who is a drug user would stop using drugs just to pass the test required for his employment and then return to his vice once he starts working.

That is why it really helps if City Hall conducts regular and mandatory drug tests to ensure that all its employees are really free from drugs.