MMDA General Manager Jose Arturo “Jojo” Garcia. SCREENGRAB from MMDA Facebook
A dozen employees of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) have been found positive of using shabu following a random drug test at the agency, MMDA General Manager Jojo Garcia said on Wednesday.
Garcia said that the drug test was conducted last May 22 to 24, and last June 5.
Out of the 12 MMDA employees, he said, six had already been dismissed from the agency.
The remaining six, from which Garcia identified as permanent employees of the agency, will undergo “due process” for their termination.
Garcia, however, asserted that the remaining six would soon be terminated as the agency does not tolerate drug use.
“Hindi ko alam kung matutuwa kami o malulungkot na may gumagamit nito sa hanay namin pero ang maganda lang dito ay nahuli natin [I don’t know if we would be glad (that we caught someone) or sad because there are people in our rank who are using (illegal drugs) but the good thing here is that we apprehended them.],” he said during a press conference.
He noted that the 12 male employees were “mostly enforcers” of the agency.
He also said that one of the MMDA employees who tested positive for illegal drugs has long been a suspect for using drugs but managed to elude being accosted.
“Yung isang nahuli natin diyan, napakagaling niya, nung dumating kami dito, matagal na daw na suspect ‘yan pero laging negative sa drug test,” Garcia said.
(One of those arrested, he’s kind of elusive because when we assumed office, he had been suspected for so long of using drugs but always tested negative in drug tests.)
“Ang ginagawa niya pala, kapag ida-drug test na, may baon siya na urine, nakabote sa loob ng damit niya, so yun yung nilalagay niya,” he added.
(What he was doing was that every time there would be a drug test, he would conceal inside his shirt a bottle of somebody’s urine and that was he was submitting.)
When pressed on how the employee managed to bring a bottle of urine if the drug testing was conducted by random, Garcia said that before there was a memo being given to the employees prior to the testing day.
“Kapag sinabi namin na random, may database kami, pipilin yan, basta padadalhan namin ng memo, papapuntahin namin sa ganitong date,” Garcia explained.
(Whenever we say random, we have a database and from there we would select who among them would be given a memo and summon them to appear on a given date [for a drug test.])
About 1,000 MMDA employees were supposedly summoned to undergo the random testing, however, Garcia said at least 20 percent of them did not appear during the drug testing day.
Garcia said that a fresh memo was already given to the concerned individuals, warning them that they might be terminated if they would not comply for the third time in the drug testing of personnel. /jpv
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