57 Cebu City employees tested positive for illegal drug use

CEBU CITY –– The number of Cebu City Hall employees found positive for illegal drug use has reached 57.

Jonah John Rodriguez, head of the Cebu City Office of Substance Abuse Prevention (Cosap), said 56 employees tested positive for methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu while one tested positive for marijuana.

The random drug test was conducted by the Cosap since Nov. 11.

Rodriguez said they have submitted the results of the drug test to a laboratory in Manila for confirmation, as well as to the City Legal Office.

“These employees will be called to the city legal office, and it is up to the city legal office what to do with them,” he said.

Rodriguez said they were still consolidating who among the 57 were job-order, casual, or regular employees.

Among those recently found positive for drug use were two employees of the Cebu City Treasurer’s Office, two from the barangay health workers, and one from the Anti-Mendicancy Board.

Job-order employees would be terminated immediately, while casual employees’ contracts would no longer be renewed.

Regular employees, on the other hand, will go through a process based on the Civil Service rules.

Rodriguez said City Mayor Edgardo Labella repeatedly stressed the need for employees to stay away from illegal drugs so as not to disrupt their daily tasks.

The city will help the employees who would seek rehabilitation through the Cosap even if they were terminated.

He said those who would be found positive in the confirmatory test would undergo rehabilitation under the “We Care Program” of the city.

“We will help them rehabilitate themselves,” Rodriguez said.

Edited by LZB