The Cebu Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse office (CPADAO) backs the proposal of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to subject all candidates in the 2018 midterm elections to drug testing.
Chief Carmen Remedios Durano-Meca, CPADAO head, said that drug testing results serve as proof whether the candidates are involved in illegal drugs.
But Meca admitted that there might be legal repercussions if drug testing is made mandatory.
Lawyer Lionel Marco Castillano, Provincial Election Supervisor of Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Cebu, explained that their office cannot impose the mandatory testing because this has long been declared as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
Castillano, however, said it would be beneficial for candidates to voluntarily subject themselves to drug testing.