Sotto thumbs down police anti-drug operations in campuses
SENATE President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III on Wednesday said school authorities, not the Philippine National Police (PNP), should conduct anti-drug operations inside campuses.
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) earlier released Memorandum Order No. 18 Series of 2018, which provides the guidelines for the conduct of drug tests for students in higher education institutions (HEIs).
Section 2.4 under the Rule II of the memorandum also allows local government units, the PNP, or any authorized law enforcement agency to conduct legitimate anti-drug operations inside the premises of HEIs, provided that they coordinate with school officials.
“The mandate that we have in the law in Republic Act 9165 is for the authorities to do it, not the PNP,” Sotto, author of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, said in a news forum.
“(It should) not (be) police operations. Hindi magiging maganda ang effect, tsaka hindi maganda ang dating (The effect will not be good, and it will not leave a good impression),” he said.
But while he disagreed on the conduct of police operations inside schools, Sotto said he supports the random drug testing in HEIs.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
