• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Six job order (JO) workers of the San Carlos City government in Negros Occidental tested positive for drug use.
Mayor Renato Gustilo said yesterday that the six JO workers were among the 106 employees subjected to random drug testing on Aug. 12.
All the 106 employees tested were assigned at the City Cooperative and Livelihood Department, Public Market and Slaughterhouse Department and the City Sports Office.
This brought to eight the number of JO workers in San Carlos city government who tested positive for drug use since early this year.
Last year, 18 workers also tested positive, of which eight are regular employees.
Gustilo said that all JO workers who tested positive for illegal drugs have been dismissed outright while the regular employees will undergo confirmatory testing.
The San Carlos City Anti-Drug Abuse Council and San Carlos City Doctors Hospital spearheaded the random drug testing activity.
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. | GB