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January 14, 2018
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DUMAGUETE City – An office order to attend a supposed briefing with Mayor Felipe Remollo sent more than 200 employees – including casuals and job orders – in one room where they were told that a mandatory drug testing would commence immediately.
A job order employee – a sweeper – who was reportedly under the influence of alcohol quickly wanted to make an exit but the doors were padlocked.
He instead underwent drug testing first at Building 1 of the public market complex.
The City Health Office, headed by Ma. Sarah Talla, facilitated the mandatory drug testing on Thursday with the assistance from the police and the city local government operations officer Farah Diba Gentuya.
Initial results showed some employees tested positive for illegal drug use.
Prior to the surprise drug test, seven workers – one of them a regular employee – were also found positive for illegal drug use, according to the City Human Resource Office.
Remollo wanted to fast-track the mandatory drug testing so that the city can achieve a “drug-free workplace” status in support to the national government’s campaign against prohibited drugs.
Gentuya said the city anti-drug abuse council allotted P3.6 million for the anti-drug kits for all city hall workers composed of 600 regular employees, 500 casual employees and more than 600 job order employees.
Employees at the Office of the Mayor were first to undergo the mandatory drug testing, followed by the workers at the Traffic Management Office and Disaster Risk Reduction Management office, members of the Task Force Dumaguete, police auxiliary and Rescue 348, and workers at the public market, bus terminal, slaughterhouse, and fish terminal.
However, 37 out of 60 workers at the slaughterhouse failed to come for the drug test.
Human Resource Officer Dino Depositario said they will have to explain in writing why they failed to come during the drug test.
Regular employees who tested positive for drug use will have to undergo confirmatory tests and be subjected to a rehabilitation program, at their own expense, via an accredited drug testing company.
Job order workers who were found positive, on the other hand, will be either subjected to immediate ouster or nonrenewal of their contracts. (PNA/PN)
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