CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City Anti-Drug Abuse Council said they fully support the mandate of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) for a drug-free workplace in private establishments in the city.
City Office for Substance Abuse Prevention (COSAP) head, Garry Lao, said that he appreciated the drive of PDEA to ensure a drug-free city.
The COSAP, along with the Cebu City Police Office, Association of Barangay Councils (ABC), Sangguniang Kabataan, PDEA in Central Visayas, and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Central Visayas (CIDG-7).
He said that the City Council must pass a resolution that would require business establishments seeking business permits to undergo the process of the a drug-free workplace including trainings, drug testing, rehabilitation for the drug-positive employees, and monitoring.
Read more: PDEA-7 pushes drug-free workplace in Cebu City
“I think no establishment will go against it. We are happy that not only the city but also all agencies of the government including the private sector are trying to help fight drugs,” said Lao.
Lao said that if the process had been disseminated to the private sector, the program could be fully implemented.
“We are not in a hurry. We need to make them (private establishments) understand before implementing the program. Let us start with information education,” said Lao.
Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) President, ex-officio Councilor Franklyn Ong, said that the PDEA’s program would be a good move for the barangays to become drug-free by involving the private sectors.
“I will also suggest to the COSAP that on the next CADAC meeting, we will invite the Cebu Chamber of Commerce to also share their insights on the program,” said Ong.
Ong said that the program would be challenging to implement because the city had a thousand private businesses that would need to be educated on the program.
He said the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) should also shed light on the right of laborers who might be drug-positive and how an employer might go about his rehabilitation.
Ong also said he would be looking into the ordinances of the city that had been passed on promoting a drug-free workplace in order to incorporate the program of PDEA.
He said that he was hoping that the private sector would cooperate with the program and help the city in its endeavor to become a drug-free city one day./dbs