• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Two more job order (JO) workers of San Carlos City government in Negros Occidental were tested positive for drug use, Mayor Renato Gustilo confirmed on Tuesday.
They were among the 250 employees assigned at the City Agriculture Office subjected to random drug testing on Feb. 8 and 9.
Last year, 18 city government employees also tested positive for drug use, eight of whom were regular employees.
Gustilo said that all JO workers who were tested positive for illegal drugs have been dismissed outright while regular employees were directed to undergo confirmatory testing.
The regular employees whose results turned out to be positive again were placed under the drug rehabilitation program while one of them opted to resign.
“For those who refuse to undergo drug rehab, we will file charges against them,” Gustilo said.
Random drug testing is a mandatory requirement of the Civil Service Commission, through Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, for a drug-free workplace.
About 1,500 employees of the city government were subjected to random drug testing by the City Anti-Drug Abuse Council last year. | GB
