MANDAUE CITY, Cebu—Sixteen employees of the Mandaue City Hall have tested positive for illegal drugs during a surprise drug test conducted last Wednesday, February 16, 2022.
Mandaue City Councilor Nerissa Soon-Ruiz, the focal person of the City Anti-Drug Abuse Council (CADAC), on Monday, February 21, 2022, said the 16 employees were from the different offices.
Ruiz said these employees and their department heads were already notified of the results.
A total of 674 city hall employees from City Mayor’s Office, Sangguniang Panlungsod, City Treasurer’s Office, City Assessor, Management Information Systems Office, City Planning and Development Office, Accounting Office, Human Resource Management Office, Budget Office, Sectoral Affairs Office, and Office of the Sectoral Management were subjected to the surprise drug test last Wednesday.
Ruiz said the results of the 16 individuals who tested positive during the rapid drug screening test were already sent to DOH accredited drug testing laboratory for confirmatory testing.
She said it would take about a month before the confirmatory test will come out.
“It is frustrating that we have been carrying out a drug-free workplace because we have an ordinance of a drug-free workplace for government offices. The role model should be Mandaue City but there are still those who test positive so I think we need to strengthen our program. We have gone through the barangays and yet here in our own yard, we still have those who test positive,” said Ruiz.
If proven positive for illegal drugs, contracts of job order employees will be immediately be terminated while regular employees will undergo due process based on the city’s drug-free workplace ordinance.
They would also undergo drug rehabilitation.
With this, Ruiz said they will be conducting more surprise drug tests in the city hall as part of the city’s drug-free workplace policy.
The CADAC also conducted a surprise drug test last January 4, 2022 on personnel of the Department of General Services and Mandaue City Environment and Natural Resources, wherein 10 were found positive for illegal drugs, she said.
/bmjo
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