THE eight Cebu City police who initially tested positive for drug use have been relieved from their posts.
Chief Supt. Marcelo Garbo, chief of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), also ordered them disarmed.
Garbo said the eight policemen will be dismissed from service if confirmatory tests in Manila show them to be positive for drug use.
Garbo assured the eight policemen they will be given due process in an administrative investigation to be conducted against them.
Senior Supt. Melvin Ramon Buenafe, Cebu City police director, said the eight policemen who were assigned in different police units and police stations were reassigned to the Cebu City Public Safety Company starting yesterday.
“We don’t need people who are involved in illegal drugs,” said Buenafe.
Last Wednesday, 30 policemen were asked to report to the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) for a meeting. It was only in the conference room that the 30 policemen were told their urine samples were needed for a drug test. Three policemen failed to attend the meeting and were asked to explain their absences./CORRESPONDENT CHITO O. ARAGON