39 Bacolod gov’t workers surrender, 14 others warned

INQUIRER FILES

BACOLOD CITY — At least 39 of the 53 government workers, who tested positive for the use of illegal drugs in this city, have surrendered for rehabilitation.

Colonel. Noel Aliño, Bacolod police director, said the 14 employees who did not surrender would be included in their illegal drugs watchlist for surveillance and may face charges if evidence warrants.

“Don’t dare me. I warned you, I will arrest all of you,” he said.

Aliño said he would gather evidence against the 14 employees who didn’t surrender and find out where they are getting their supply of illegal drugs.

Those who did not surrender, he said, had been given a second chance to do so next week before any police action is taken.

Of those who surrendered, Aliño said 17 were assigned at the Public Order and Safety Office and 22 from the Bacolod Traffic Authority Office.

General Primitivo Tabujara, Bacolod anti-drug program coordinator, said on Friday, August 11, that the 39 who surrendered were subjected to profiling after their mugshots and fingerprints were taken on Thursday.

He said about 100 other drug users from different barangays in Bacolod City were also subjected for profiling and rehabilitation.

Last Friday, Silay Mayor Joedith Gallego reported that at least four employees of the Silay government in Negros Occidental who tested positive for the use of illegal drugs had contested the results.

Gallego said these four employees insisted they were not illegal drug users.

“(They) subjected themselves to separate tests and tested negative (for illegal drugs),”  she said on Friday.

Of the 39 employees who tested positive for narcotics use, two were regular employees, while the rest were job order and casual  workers.

Gallego said the two regular employees had resigned, while the four who were waiting for the confirmatory tests results, were still reporting for work.

As of August 8, at least 1,010 Silay City government employees were tested for drug use.

The drug tests will continue to cover the rest of the city government employees,  Gallego said.

“This is in line with the campaign for a drug-free workplace,” she said.

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