A total of 13 barangay employees, mostly tanods or village watchmen, of barangay Ermita in Cebu City face removal from their jobs for using illegal drugs.
“The 13 employees admitted to using illegal drugs including 11 tanods, one street cleaner and one loader,” said Dr. Alice Utlang, chief of the Cebu City Office for Substance Abuse Prevention (Cosap) which conducted a surprise drug test yesterday.
Sought for comment, Acting Mayor Edgardo Labella said barangay employees who tested positive should be “dealt with accordingly.”
“They should be removed from office. They should lead by example and if they’re caught using illegal drugs, then there’s no reason for them to be in public office,” Labella said in a news conference.
Ermita is now the second barangay with the most number of employees who use drugs, following barangay Tisa where 14 employees tested positive
Of the 226 Ermita barangay officials and workers, only 159 showed up for the drug test yesterday morning.
The 13 employees who readily admitted to drug use were no longer made to give urine samples.
The rest of the barangay personnel tested negative.
Meanwhile, all 56 employees who showed up for the tests in barangay Kamagayan had negative results although two of them admitted they used illegal drugs.
Utlang said the two were still subjected to drug testing and results turned out negative.
She warned them that the results may be positive the next time Cosap conducts another surprise drug testing.
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