Bacolod Councilor Psyche Marie Sy is pushing for a drug-free workplace in the city government and in the barangays.
Sy, chairperson of the Sangguniang Panlungsod Committee on Social Defense, Peace and Order, is pushing for the passage of her proposed ordinance that will make drug testing mandatory and an essential requirement for initial entry into government service.
The application of a jobseeker found positive for drug use will be denied, she stressed in Section 7 or the Aspects of the Drug-Free Workplace Policy.
It also mandates that a drug test shall be part of the annual physical examination for all city employees, and that the random selection procedure shall be determined by a drug-free workplace or assessment committee that would be formed.
An appointive public officer who refuses, without any valid reason, to submit him/herself to the authorized drug testing, or is found positive for drug use after a confirmatory test, shall be charged of grave misconduct, the proposal, that was passed on first reading at the SP session this afternoon, Aug. 17, stressed.
A public officer who committed similar actuation or tested positive for drug-use shall be subject to disciplinary action for misconduct, under the Local Government Code.
Those found to have tampered with the result of the test, or violated the confidentiality rule, shall be charged administratively, without prejudice to the filing of a criminal case for violation of Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Sy said that Dangerous Drugs Board Regulation No. 13 mandates all government agencies to institutionalize a drug-free workplace policy, including authorized drug testing for elective and appointed public officers, to ensure an effective and efficient government service free from the ill-effects of drug use in the workplace.
Civil Service Memorandum Circular 13-2017, and CS MC 05-2019 also provide the guidelines in the mandatory drug test for public officials and employees, the councilor said, adding that there is a need to support the government’s campaign against illegal drugs.
“This ordinance aims to ensure that all public officers and personnel of the City Government of Bacolod, both elective and appointive, remain drug free in order to provide effective and efficient service to the people,” the neophyte lady councilor explained.
She urged the city’s barangays to also pass a similar measure to ensure a drug-free workplace./CGC
