WE condemn Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Chief Aaron Aquino’s proposal to subject pupils and teachers to mandatory drug testing, saying that the Duterte regime’s drug war has no place in schools.
Government’s bloody drug war has gone beyond insane to intimate that any 9-year-old kid could be a drug suspect. We should not permit this to happen. Schools are no playground for Tokhang.
Earlier, Aquino suggested to the Department of Education the mandatory drug-testing of pupils from Grade 4 and up, as well as teachers.
The drug-testing will sow terror in schools, will disturb the students and will destroy the sanctity of schools as safe places for learning. Mandatory drug testing is also a blatant violation of the rights of children and teachers.
The government’s line of thinking is very dangerous because apart from the drug testing for nine-year-olds, a bill to decrease the age of criminal liablity to the same level is pending in Congress. The State, which has the responsibility to protect our youth, apparently wants to make criminals out of them.
Also, the PDEA Chief’s proposal is a great insult to teachers. This government does not run out of ideas to denigrate the integrity of the teaching profession. First it suggested that we are brats for asking for salary increase. Then they painted us as whiners for standing against overwork. Now, they insinuate that we are drug addicts.
This government should disabuse itself of its belief that we are a nation of drug addicts. What we are is a nation deep in economic crisis. It is where they should focus. What the teachers and the people need are the jobs, wage increase, the scrapping of regressive taxes and free and quality education and other social services.
They will be wasting a lot of people’s money to test some 20 million pupils and 700,000 teachers for drug use. It should be dedicated instead to uplifting the quality of education and upgrading teachers’ salaries.”--Raymond Basilio, secretary general, Alliance of Concerned Teachers
Too young for drug test
GRADE IV pupils are too young to undergo drug test. They are too young and it is not proper for us adults to assume that they are into drug use. At that stage of life, they are just starting with their social lives, and with their school activities and games. They are mere babies.
Also, the drug test may cause anxiety to the children and would put them in a stigma. We will ask the Department of Education (DepEd) not to allow the proposed drug testing in elementary schools.
As to the same testing for teachers, this should be done in a proper manner and with utmost confidentiality, The teaching profession is considered noble and teachers should possess high level of probity.
But we do not oppose the random drug testing for teachers and government employees. In fact, we would also like to propose that those in higher positions in the government should be the first to undergo mandatory drug testing--Benjo Basas, Teachers’ Dignity Coalition