Lawyer John Eddu Ibañez, executive secretary of Mayor Jonas Cortes
MANDAUE CITY, Philippines — More Mandaue City Hall departments will be subjected to a surprise drug test after the recent test found seven employees positive for illegal drugs and three others tampering with their urine samples.
The drug testing last November 16 was conducted in celebration of the Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Week.
The employees and departments were picked randomly from the Emergency Operations Center, City Health Office, and City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office.
Lawyer John Eddu Ibañez, executive secretary of Mayor Jonas Cortes said they are still waiting for the confirmatory test results.
Ibañez said if the confirmatory test yields positive results, the concerned employees will face sanctions depending on their employment status.
For job order employees, their contract of services will not be renewed while regular employees will undergo due process based on the city’s drug-free workplace ordinance.
For the three employees who allegedly tampered with their urine samples and used water instead, Ibañez said they are also still waiting for the official report from the drug laboratory. He said the act of tampering is tantamount to falsification.
“So same sa ni positive, mas dali pa gale ato’ng penalty ani nila kay pag submit lang daan nila tampered na ilang specimen which is a form of clarification,” said Ibañez.
He said they plan to subject more offices to drug tests to make sure that no city hall employee is using illegal drugs.
He said just like their other drug tests, offices and employees will be picked randomly and the tests will be unannounced.
“Wala gyud tay tolerance anang drug use, we are very happy gani nga na drug cleared ato usa ka barangay unya as to set an example kinahanglan kita dinhi sa dakbayan dili gyud tiggamitan og ginadiling drugas,” said Ibañez. /rcg
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