SOME 180 public school teachers of Abellana National School (ANS) underwent a surprise drug test last Tuesday, but all of them, tested negative for drug use.
The test, which was administered by the Cebu City Office for Substance Abuse Prevention (Cosap), was the second drug test for public school teachers since the campaign started this month.
A total of 201 teachers were initially required by the school principal to attend a meeting last Tuesday afternoon but they were surprised when personnel from Cosap briefed them about the drug test.
Of the 201 teachers, 181 underwent the test, 16 failed to attend the meeting while four others were exempted from the test because the three were already set for retirement and the other one is pregnant.
Cosap Chief Alice Utlang said ANS is a priority for the surprise drug test since the school has the highest number of teachers in the city.
“So far, it’s good that there were no teachers that tested positive for the use of illegal drugs from the two schools where we conducted the surprise drug tests,” she said.
About two weeks ago, Cosap also administered a surprise drug test in Talamban National High School where all teachers turned out clean.
Utlang said Barangay Talamban was tagged as among the villages in the city seriously affected by illegal drug problem. This is the reason why the first drug test for teachers was conducted in Talamban school.
Utlang said that the remaining 16 ANS teachers who failed to undergo the drug test will still be asked to submit themselves for the process.
Yesterday, Cosap also conducted another surprise drug test in Barangay Calamba.
Of the 85 barangay officials and workers who were asked to take the test, only 70 showed up.
Cosap together with Calamba Barangay Captain Yvone Feliciano briefed the participants on the ill-effects of using illegal drugs.
The result of the test in Calamba, which was the seventh barangay that underwent the test, will be known today.