BACOLOD City – No ordinance is needed to conduct mandatory drug tests on city government employees, according to the City Legal Office.
A provision in Republic Act (RA) 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002) gives the city government leeway, stressed City Legal Officer Romeo Carlos Ting Jr.
Section 36(d) of RA 9165 states that “officers and employees of public and private offices, whether domestic or overseas, shall be subjected to a random drug test as contained in the company’s work rules and regulations, which shall be borne by the employer, for purposes of reducing the risk in the workplace.”
The same law states that authorized drug testing should be done by any government forensic laboratory or any drug testing laboratories accredited and monitored by the Department of Health to safeguard the quality of test results.
It added that any officer or employee found positive for illegal drug use should be dealt with administratively, which shall be grounds for suspension or termination, subject to Article 282 of the Labor Code and pertinent provisions of the Civil Service Law.
It has been learned that a pending ordinance in the city council proposes to impose a mandatory drug test.
City Administrator Pacifico Maghari III said the city government would continue conducting random drug tests next week.
Earlier, 53 job order and regular employees assigned at the Bacolod Traffic Authority Office and Public Order and Safety Office turned out positive for illegal drugs in a random drug test conducted by the city anti-drug abuse council (CADAC).
Employees urged to surrender
Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) director Colonel Noel Aliño urged the 53 city government employees to surrender voluntarily.
“Lahat ng nag-positive pumunta kayo sa akin at mag-surrender na kayo. Wina-warning-an ko na sabihin nila kung saan nanggaling ang droga, hindi ako nagbibiro,” Aliño said.
Failure to surrender will result in their being subjected to further monitoring and investigation, the director added.
Aliño explained that the BCPO has rehabilitation programs like those under the Oplan Tokhang.
Primitivo Tabujara, CADAC focal person, said the police is also a council member tasked with profiling those who want to undergo rehabilitation.
The city government employees who tested positive for illegal drugs were encouraged to participate in the drug use assessment to be conducted by the City Health Office on Aug. 10.
Taabujara said successful treatment and rehabilitation would give them a chance of re-employment after a rigid assessment./PN
