PDEA-7 conducts a surprise drug test at the Cebu South Bus Terminal on Friday, April 8, 2022. | contributed photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Eight individuals tested positive in a surprise drug test conducted at the Cebu South and North Bus terminals on Friday, April 8, 2022.
Of the eight who tested positive in the drug test, three were bus drivers, one was a bus conductor, and four were taxi drivers. They were among 335 who were tested for the day.
However, these positive results are still subject for confirmatory drug tests, said Leia Albiar, spokesperson of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7).
PDEA-7 director Levi Ortiz, said that should these eight yield positive results after the confirmatory test, their names will be forwarded to the Land Transportation Office in Central Visayas (LTO-7).
For his part, LTO-7 Law Enforcement Officer Aden Belza, said that those will test positive for illegal drugs right after the confirmatory test could be subject for license revocation, which means they will no longer be allowed to drive public vehicles.
Ortiz said in an interview that this move is the agency’s way in ensuring that the general public will be safe in their travels especially during the coming Holy Week which starts this Sunday with Palm Sunday.
Ortiz said they expect crowd influx in these terminals during the Holy Week as some will be going to their respective hometowns.
Apart from that, this is also their way in checking that drivers and conductors are not in the influence of any kind of drugs while plying Cebu routes.
Carmen Quijano, the manager of the Cebu South and North Bus Terminals, welcomed this initiative as beneficial in securing the safety of the passengers, especially this Holy Week.
“Random man ni so sa atoang tanang mga drivers wa gyud namo pahibaw-a…to ensure the public that we are safe,” Quijano said.
However, Quijano admitted that even if there are many individuals who presented themselves during the drug tests, there are still a lot of drivers who did not, some of these are mini bus drivers and conductors.
“I want to be honest nga ang ako gyud main problem are the mini buses. Some of the mini buses, wa jod muanhi. Unya naa tay nasakpan mga two months or three months ago, driver ug conductor [tested positive],” Quijano said.
To address this, Quijano said that she will call those bus operators of these mini bus drivers who did not participate in today’s surprise drug tests in the terminals.
Quijano said they expect at least 30,000 passengers using the terminals in this coming Holy Week.
/bmjo
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