By EUGENE ADIONG
BACOLOD City — Murcia Mayor Andrew Montelibano will file charges for grave misconduct against eight municipal government employees who tested positive for drugs.
Montelibano said he took advice from Atty. Erna Elizan, director of Civil Service Commission (CSC) Negros Occidental.
He said that, if he would have his way, he will order the immediate dismissal from service of the concerned employees.
“But the CSC advised me to file a complaint before their regional office in Iloilo so that a committee can be convened to investigate,” said Montelibano.
He said the CSC knows how to deal with matters like this concerning government employees. It formulates the rules after all, he said.
According to Elizan, a drug test is mandatory for everyone who enters government service.
She said a government worker’s employer has the “right to conduct the test to maintain the fitness of [its] employees.”
A government employee who would test positive for drugs may face both administrative and criminal charges, said Elizan.
She said a complaint may be lodged against them before the CSC or the Office of the Ombudsman.
Elizan said the head of the agency for which the drug-positive employee works can also conduct an investigation.
Ten Murcia municipal government employees tested positive in a recent drug test, but only eight of them tested positive following a validation test at the Department of Health laboratory in Manila./PN
