Due process will be given to the 13 Philippine Army (PA)
personnel who were initially found to have failed the initial screening of the
mandatory drug test conducted in Fort Bonifacio , Taguig
City
"If the confirmatory test is positive, it is enough
evidence for us to discharge our personnel. But we emphasized that due process
is given to all our personnel based on existing laws and regulations about
illegal drugs,” PA spokesperson Col. Benjamin Hao said.
He added that the 13 Army personnel are now undergoing
investigation and were immediately required to undergo further confirmatory
test in a Department of Health-accredited drug testing establishment.
“Everybody was required to undergo the drug test led by our
Army commanding general,” he stressed.
The drug test, which was conducted in coordination with the
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, was unannounced.
It was implemented during the conduct of the Army’s morning
Taebo exercise on Tuesday.
“The PA is very serious in its anti-drug campaign. Since we
started this campaign, 204 soldiers nationwide were already discharged from the
service because of cases related to illegal drugs (131 soldiers nationwide were
discharged in 2013; 38 in 2014; 30 in 2015; and five so far this year),"
Hao added.
Section 36, Article 3 of Republic Act 9165, otherwise known
as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, mandates the conduct of
random drug testing to public and private officers for purposes of reducing the
risk in the workplace.
It also mandates the conduct of annual mandatory drug test
to all members of the military.
These soldiers are now under custody of the Philippine Army
for further investigation while waiting for the confirmatory test result.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=901799
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