- BERT BAYORAN
Mayor Javier Miguel “Javi” Benitez led the 1,100 employees of the Victorias City Hall in undergoing a surprise drug testing Aug. 30 at Don Alejandro Acuña Yap Quiña Arts and Cultural Center in Victorias City.
The drug test aims to ensure that all officials and employees of Victorias City are drug-free.
The City Health Office, assisted by the local police, administered the drug test to all city officials and employees, including permanent, casual, contractual or job order workers.
The surprise drug testing was conducted after barangays 10 and 11 in Victorias were declared drug-cleared by the Regional Oversight Committee 6, which is composed of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, the Philippine National Police, departments of the Interior and Local Government, and of Health.
In a statement, Benitez emphasized that his administration is pushing for clean governance that includes having drug-free public servants.
In the imposition of a strict drug-testing at the City Hall, Benitez said nobody is exempted.
“This is pursuant to the mandates of the 1987 Constitution and the Administrative Code of 1987 to ensure that morale, efficiency, integrity, responsiveness, progressiveness, and courtesy shall be widely observed in the civil service and to ensure that government service shall be drug-free as provided under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002,” a statement from the Victorias City Public Information Office said./GB
