Village execs called to undergo drug testing

A FORMER official of the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) is calling on all elected barangay officials in the country to submit themselves for drug testing.

Lawyer Paul Oaminal, former DDB vice chair, said the voluntary submission of newly-elected barangay officials to a drug testing will send a strong signal that the Philippines is serious in its vision of a drug-free country.

Oaminal issued the call in time for the national observance of the Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Week on November 13 to 20 and in accordance to a resolution filed earlier by then DDB chairperson Senator Vicente Sotto III adopting the agency’s Drug Free Workplace Program.

The conduct of random drug testing is incorporated in the resolution, said Oaminal.

“The foremost challenge of the government is to earn the trust of the public which has become cynical and passive,” Oaminal said.

To earn that trust, he said government officials must be the first one to undergo drug testing before they “demand this to the rank and file employees.”

While private establishments are mandated to comply with the Drug Free Workplace Program for Private Establishments, which was implemented by the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole), Oaminal said it is ironic that local government units are not conducting random drug testing to its employees.

With this, Oaminal said barangay officials must implement sustainable and substantive drug free community programs as frontliners in the war against illegal drugs.

In line with the observance of the Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Week, Oaminal is also calling on all non-government organizations, private and civic organizations to join in the celebration. (Annabelle L. Ricalde)