CCTO head Raquel Arce in an interview with reporters on Thursday, December 22, 2022.| Wenilyn B. Sabalo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) head Raquel Arce is not inclined to give a second chance to the 12 casual personnel who tested positive during a recent surprise drug test.
In an interview on Thursday, December 22, 2022, Arce told reporters that she is just waiting for the results of the confirmatory test so she could formally recommend the termination of the employment of these employees.
“Di man jud ko mo tolerate. Di ko gusto nga pipila lang na sila unya musagol sa organization makadaot sa kinatibuk-an nga organisasyon. Murag nahimong sayon-sayon gamay kay aduna na koy 12 kabuok nga mataktak out of the 154 (casual employees),” she said.
“Gahuwat ko sa confirmatory (test results) precisely maong ga duty pa sila karon, but ang program sa COSAP is another thing. Ila na na kung mo submit sila sa ilang self didto sa COSAP voluntarily,” she added.
Arce said the department will have to lay off a total of 154 casual employees as CCTO’s personnel services allocation for 2023 will breach the limit set by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
As of now, the CCTO has 554 casual employees.
CDN Digital earlier reported that of the 3,007 Cebu City Hall employees who underwent a series of surprise drug tests last week, 40 yielded positive results, and the majority or 13 (12 casuals and one job order) are from the CCTO.
READ: 40 Cebu City Hall employees fail drug test
Arce said she was, somehow, not surprised with the results, especially since it was already a while since a surprise drug test was conducted in CCTO.
She added that in order to make sure that every CCTO personnel takes a drug test, she will compare the names on the Cebu City Office for Substance Abuse Prevention’s (COSAP) list with the attendance at their general assembly meeting when the surprise drug test was conducted.
“Ila na na kung mo submit sila sa ilang self didto sa COSAP voluntarily…I hope this will teach them a lesson nga kung pananglitan wa man ka na positive pero naggamitan ka muundang na ka kay at any given time pwede ko mo request og surprise drug test,” she said.
“I have given them the stern warning nga once they fail to submit for drug testing they are considered positive and they have to prove themselves negative kung mo contest sila,” she added. /rcg
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