15 airport workers who tested positive for drugs fired

MANILA — The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) terminated 15 of 18 airport workers who tested positive for narcotics use in 2015.

Two other employees at the Moises R. Espinosa Airport in Masbate also face dismissal after they were found positive for methamphetamine hydrochloride or “shabu” in random drug testing conducted last month.

In a report to CAAP Director General William Hotchkiss III, Rolly Bayaban, head of the CAAP’s Office of the Flight Surgeon and Aviation Medicine, said random drug testing on 1,551 employees in the 81 agency-managed airports yielded 18 shabu users.

Of the employees who tested positive, four were from the Pagadian Airport, three from the Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport in Tacloban, three from the Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao, two each from the Roxas and Cotabato Airports and an employee each from the Zamboanga International, the Kalibo International, the Naga and the Busuanga Airports.

According to the OFSAM chief, 15 employees have been dismissed after testing positive for shabu use while the administrative case against three other workers has remained under review.

Late last month, 232 employees at three CAAP-run airports in Tacloban, Masbate, and Laoag underwent random drug testing.

Bayaban said that while workers at the Tacloban and Laoag Airports passed the narcotics test, two CAAP employees were found positive for the use of shabu.

The random drug testing on CAAP workers was designed to ensure that employees in the airports managed by the authority are fit to serve the public.

CAAP also undertakes random drug testing on cabin crew members of the different airlines as part of its oversight on licensed aviation personnel.

The agency fully manages 81 airports nationwide while it only oversees the airside operations of four other airports including the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.   SFM