Thursday, April 26, 2007
5 aspirants fail to hand in Comelec-required drug tests
FIVE candidates for provincial positions missed the deadline for the submission of their drug test results.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) resolution requiring the drug test for candidates provides that they will not be allowed to assume their posts if they win.
Pinoy Votes: Sun.Star Election 2007
The Comelec Provincial Office submitted to Comelec Manila’s law department the list of candidates who failed to submit their drug test results, including a gubernatorial and a congressional candidate.
The candidates, however, are not prominent because they do not belong to any of the well-known political groups.
A candidate for governor, Rolando Lejarde, topped the list. The other candidates are Ricardo Adlawan, candidate for congressman in the fourth district, and Edilito Martinez, who is running for Congress in the fourth district.
Martinez is also facing a petition for disqualification, which the Comelec has yet to resolve.
Barred from office
Other candidates who did not submit their drug test results are Lorenzo Lorono, candidate for Provincial Board (PB) member in the second district, and Eduardito Valdez, also a candidate for PB member for the fifth district.
Comelec Resolution 6486, or the Rules and Regulations on Mandatory Drug Tests, requires candidates to undergo a drug test. The deadline for the submission of the results was last March 24 yet.
Boy Gonnie Neis, election assistant at the Comelec Provincial Office, said they submitted the list but they have yet to find out what to do with the candidates.
Section 5 of the resolution states that “no person elected to any public office shall enter upon the duties of his office until he has undergone mandatory drug test and filed with the offices enumerated...the drug test certificates herein required.”
Comelec officials earlier said the drug testing is necessary so the public will know the kind of candidates they will be electing into office.
Some local candidates, however, think that that drug testing is not a reliable way to determine whether or not a candidate is hooked on illegal drugs. (JPM)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (April 26, 2007 issue)
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