LAPU-LAPU City Major Junard Chan will leave it up to the police to deal with the 20 fixers at the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in the city who tested positive for illegal drugs.
“Closap will deal with those who want to undergo community-based rehabilitation. We encourage them to change their life around,” Chan said in Cebuano.
Only 16 of the 36 individuals identified as “fixers” at the LTO Lapu-Lapu City tested negative for illegal drug use during the surprise drug tested conducted by the City of Lapu-Lapu Office of Substance Abuse Prevention (Closap) at the Lapu-Lapu City Sports Complex on Friday morning, Jan. 27, 2023.
He said he entrusted them to the police so that the latter could determine where they got their illegal drugs.
The mayor said that none of the LTO employees tested positive.
He also tasked the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office to look into complaints that fixers are making fake driver’s licenses.
“I don’t want the LTO compound to have a bad public image... I am really against the practice because it can tarnish the city’s reputation,” he said in Cebuano.
Chan said he will send a letter to LTO 7 Director Victor Caindec to notify the latter regarding the illegal activities of the fixers, adding that he already informed the person in charge of the LTO in the city about his discovery.
Meanwhile, Chan said he does not want fixers in the city.
“Fixers are illegal. We won’t allow them here. If we find them, we will have them arrested. That is the reason we are on the lookout for them since we won’t tolerate their presence in the city,” he said in Cebuano.
He earlier said he wanted the fixers to serve as “facilitators” of the agency so they would stop working as “fixers” in the vicinity of City Hall.
However, he also reiterated that he did not tolerate their presence and clarified that he did not want to “legitimize” them either. (BBT / PJB)