49 Bacolod employees sacked for failing drug test

BACOLOD CITY — At least 49 job orders or casual workers of the city government were removed from their posts, while four regular employees were suspended after they tested positive for illegal drug use during a random test on Aug. 1. Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said personnel who tested positive for illegal drug use, he said, would be subjected to rehabilitation and would be investigated by the police. “I think this is proper so the public will be confident that their public servants are not involved in illegal substance [abuse],” he said. Most of those who tested positive for drug use were from the Bacolod Traffic Authority Office and the Public Order and Safety Office. —CARLA GOMEZ

RELATED STORIES

DILG chief insists on mandatory drug tests

467 BJMP officials, personnel get surprise drug tests; no positive drug results