SC ruling may save Joavan from mandatory rehab bid

A SUPREME Court (SC) decision may derail a police chief’s bid to submit the Talisay City mayor’s son to mandatory rehabilitation, an official of the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) said yesterday.

Undersecretary Cla-rence Paul Oaminal lauded Talisay City Police Chief Supt. Henry Biñas’s decision to ask the court to submit Joavan Fernandez to compulsory rehabilitation.

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But he also pointed to a Supreme Court decision in November 2008 that found it unconstitutional to conduct mandatory drug testing on persons accused of a crime punishable by six years or more.

Candidates for public office also cannot be required to submit themselves to mandatory drug testing, as this violates their right to privacy, the same ruling said.

The SC decision, Oaminal said, stemmed from a case filed by the Social Justice Society, with Atty. Manuel Laserna and Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr.

In his petition, Biñas cited as his ground Section 62 of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. This complements Section 36, on mandatory drug testing.

Section 62 states: “If a person charged with an offense where the impo-sable penalty is imprisonment of less than six years and one day, and is found by the prosecutor or by the court, at any stage of the proceedings, to be a drug dependent, the prosecutor or the court as the case may be, shall suspend all further proceedings and transmit copies of the record of the case to the DDB.”

A mandatory drug test is required as evidence for the DDB that the accused is a drug dependent and needs to be rehabilitated, said Oaminal.

Biñas, in a separate interview, said he respects the opinion of Oaminal and DDB, but added that while some provisions in Section 36 were found “unconstitutional” by the SC, others remain valid and enforceable.

Oaminal said he is glad Biñas took the initiative in filing the petition, as this may serve as a “wake-up call” for families who refuse to have their drug-dependent children or relatives undergo treatment.

Oaminal said only 2,000 drug dependents nationwide have undergone drug rehabilitation from January to September 2009. An estimated 1.7 million drug dependents failed to submit themselves to rehabilitation in the same period.

Last week, Biñas filed a petition with the Talisay City Prosecutor’s Office, recommending Joavan’s compulsory rehabilitation.

If the court rules in favor of Biñas’s petition, it will probably be the first order of its kind in Cebu.