Army conducts drug tests; 1 found positive

Armed Forces of the Philippines. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – One was found positive for prohibited drugs in a random tests among Army personnel on Wednesday.

Captain Alberto Caber, administration officer at the Office of Army Chief Public Affairs, did not identify the gender nor the rank of the person.

“The said personnel will be subject to an investigation and a confirmatory testing,” he told INQUIRER.net.

Two hundred personnel underwent random drug testing in the Wednesday morning, while another 200 is still ongoing the drug test.

The drug test was conducted at the Philippine Army Headquarters.

The Philippine Army conducted a random and mandatory drug testing in compliance with the drug-free programs and policies of the government.

Section 36, Article 3 of R.A. 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. This same section of R.A. 9165 also mandates the conduct of annual mandatory drug test to officers and members of the military.

The mandatory drug testing was carried out by Task Force Midas, part of the Task Force Moses which supervises the anti-drug campaign of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

This task force is the primary arm of the AFP in identifying, apprehending, investigating, and aiding the prosecution of AFP personnel engaged in the use of illegal drugs and other drug-related activities.