PDEA: Test all bus drivers for drugs

Most of the accidents involving passenger buses are caused by drivers high on drugs, according to authorities who want to make drug tests a requirement for all bus drivers. EDWIN BACASMAS

Law-enforcement agencies have urged bus companies to make drug tests a must for all their drivers after an accident last week involving a Valisno Express bus left four dead and 18 others injured.

In a statement Sunday, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) director general Arturo Cacdac Jr. expressed optimism that the transport sector would police its ranks and encourage its members to submit themselves to a drug test.

“We [should] not wait until an accident happens on the road because the driver behind the wheel [was] high on illegal drugs,” he said.

Cacdac made the appeal after the Valisno bus driver tested positive for methamphetamine hydrochloride or “shabu” following Wednesday’s accident on Quirino Highway, Barangay (village) Greater Lagro in Quezon City.

According to George Pacis, he lost control of the bus which then rammed into the concrete arch marking the boundary between Quezon City and Caloocan City. He immediately fled only to be arrested by the police after several hours.

Cacdac noted that the majority of road accidents involving passenger buses were caused by drivers high on illegal drugs.

“These incidents prove that there is a prevailing practice of illegal drug use among bus drivers,” he said.

The PDEA’s appeal was backed by the Philippine National Police, which also urged bus firms to monitor their personnel.

“We are open to bus companies should they seek our assistance in conducting drug tests. We will also conduct drug awareness campaigns and even arrest drug peddlers,” Chief Insp. Roque Merdegia, spokesmAn of the PNP Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF), said.

In 2013, the AIDSOTF conducted a drug-entrapment operation at a bus terminal in Alabang, Muntinlupa City, leading to the arrest of a drug pusher who admitted that some of his customers were bus drivers.

“What worries us is that these buses are public conveyances. Passengers’ lives are at stake,” Merdegia said.

In the PNP, drug tests are conducted twice a year among policemen to weed out drug abusers as Merdegia stressed that bus firms should conduct the same test more frequently.

“They should conduct drug tests on their drivers every quarter because if they don’t focus their efforts, drug abuse will become more prevalent among their drivers,” he said.

Drug tests were mandatory for all those applying for or seeking to renew their driver’s license until this requirement was revoked when Republic Act 10586, or the Anti-Drunk and Drugged Driving Act, took effect in June 2013.