| CLOSAP photo
MANDAUE CITY, Cebu—Five inmates who availed of the plea-bargaining agreement for drug-related offenses tested positive for illegal drug use during a surprise drug test conducted by the City of Lapu-Lapu Office for Substance Abuse Prevention (CLOSAP) on Tuesday, October 19, 2021.
CLOSAP Executive Director Garry Lao said the five clients will undergo counseling.
“Kaning lima kabuok nga nagpositive are all first timers, meaning karun ra sila nakareport. Monthly man ang atoang monitoring sa atong mga kliyente sa CLOSAP,” said Lao.
The five were part of the 63 plea bargaining clients who underwent the surprise drug test.
Lao said since it is their first time to test positive for illegal drugs, they will be given a chance. But when they will test positive for the second time, they will immediately notify the court.
He said it will be up to the court to decide if they will revoke the plea bargaining agreement.
He said they submit a monthly report to the court about the result of the drug test, among others.
Lao said that in the last 16 batches, there were only very few inmates who tested twice to illegal drug use.
Lao said that plea bargaining clients were those who already have judgements from the court but availed for plea bargain for lesser offense and lighter sentence.
/bmjo