Tuesday, March 11, 2008 2 garbage collectors test positive for drugs
TWO clean and green employees of Barangay Hipodromo, Cebu City tested positive for shabu during a surprise drug test yesterday afternoon.
The result is still subject to confirmation by the PNP Crime Laboratory 7, which will examine their urine samples.
Secret operation
But if the two are still found to have used illegal drugs, they will be fired from their job as garbage collectors.
Joeling Lazarte, City Councilor Augustus Pe Jr.’s executive assistant who supervised the drug screening, said Barangay Captain Petronilo Fat requested the test on Hipodromo’s employees.
“He wrote the request in our office, placed it inside an envelope and handed the envelope to one of the councilor’s staffers. Only I, Councilor Pe and the barangay captain knew about the operation,” Lazarte said in Cebuano.
He said Fat wanted to make sure the barangay’s employees were not drug dependents.
Waiting for release
Meanwhile, Lazarte said the confirmatory test result on seven Cebu City abattoir private butchers found positive of shabu use last month will be ready within the week.
He said they are just waiting for the crime laboratory to release it.
In a separate interview, City Veterinarian Alice Utlang said that if the test confirms last month’s result, then the butchers will be banned from the slaughterhouse.
“They won’t be allowed entry to the facility. They can no longer slaughter their animals there,” she told Sun.Star Cebu in Cebuano.
She asked Pe’s help to have the private butchers and their helpers undergo a drug test after hearing reports on illegal drug use among slaughterhouse personnel.
She was concerned because the butchers and helpers always carry knives with them.
Banned
She said her office also noticed that some butchers appeared restless and could not seem to stay still while doing their work, which aroused her suspicion.
Last year, the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries (DVMF) nullified the licenses of 11 butchers after they were found to be illegal drug users.
Private butchers need a DVMF license and police clearance, and must undergo a National Meat Inspection Service good hygiene practice seminar before they can work at the abattoir. (RHM)
