113 military personnel found using illegal drugs in 2013

Armed Forces of the Philippines. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—A total of 113 military personnel were confirmed positive of illegal drug use in 2013, the military said Monday.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines targeted 20,000 personnel and officers for random drug testing last year, military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala said.

A comparative analysis of the AFP’s anti-drug body showed that personnel from the Air Force, Unified Commands and the Service Support Units have the lowest number of illegal drug users.

Members from the Army and Marines have the highest number of personnel positive of illegal drug use, the analysis showed.

There were 70 members from the Army confirmed positive, but Zagala explained that this was also because the Army has 80,000 personnel in its roster. There are 120,000 men and women in the whole armed forces.

For the General Headquarters at Camp Aguinaldo, there were 13 who tested positive; 12 for the Air Force; and 18 for the Navy.

“They are undergoing investigation in their respective provost marshal. Rest assured they will be given due process. If they are found guilty they will be discharged,” Zagala said.

“A tabulation of the drug users also shows a trend that the younger the individual, the greater the susceptibility to drug use is: 5 percent are Staff Sergeant/Petty Officer 2; 12 percent are Sergeant/Petty Officer 3; 26 percent are Corporal/Airman 1st Class/Seaman 1st Class; 51 percent are Private First Class/Airman 2nd Class/Seaman 2nd Class; and 6 percent are Private/Airman/Seaman,” Zagala said.

With this, the AFP is boosting its anti-drug campaign. It will target recipients of random drug testing by 20 percent this year, he said.

Zagala also said AFP plans to provide additional training for more personnel this year to enable them to come up with a better and more accurate results in drug testing.