5 more Cebu City Hall employees test positive for drugs

CEBU CITY, Philippines— Five employees of the Cebu City Hall tested positive for illegal drugs, the Cebu City Office for Substance Abuse Prevention (COSAP) reported on Tuesday, December 8, 2020. 

Four of these five employees were from the Department of Public Services (DPS) while one was from the Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW). 

All of these individuals are job order (JO) employees. They tested positive for shabu, while one from the DPS tested positive for marijuana use. 

COSAP head Jonah John Rodriguez said that Mayor Edgardo Labella instructed them to no longer wait for the confirmatory test and have these five removed from service. 

In total, 36 employees from the City Hall has failed the random drug tests being conducted in the past weeks, drawing  concern from the COSAP of the presence of illegal drugs in the city’s offices. 

Read: Surprise drug tests yield surprising result, 7 more City Hall employees are positive

“Mao na nagtarget gyod unta mi mahuman ang tanang offices pero naglisod mi sa CCTO (Cebu City Transportation Office) kay daghan kaayo sila. Nagsige pa mig arrange kay dili pwede idungan,” said Rodriguez. 

(That is why we target to finish all offices but we are having a difficult time with the CCTO because they have many personnel. We are arranging the suprise drug test because they can’t all go together.) 

Rodriguez said they will continue the drug tests until the end of the year so they can cover as many offices and personnel as they can.

Of the 36 drug-positive employees this year, only one is a regular employee. 

The employee is now undergoing due process and investigation from the Cebu City Legal Office. 

/bmjo