Erap orders Manila barangay officials to take drug test

Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada (AP FILE PHOTO)

Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada on Sunday said all elected barangay officials in the city would soon be required to undergo mandatory drug testing, in support of President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.

“From barangay chairmen down to the barangay kagawad (councilors), there will be no exemption,” Estrada said in a statement.

“It’s a betrayal of public trust. People elected them. Do you think they are worthy of their positions if they’re drug addicts?” he added.

Citing Executive Order 292 or the Administrative Code of 1987, Estrada warned that stiff sanctions await officials who would be found positive for drug use, including criminal and administrative cases and dismissal from service.

“We won’t be lenient to any barangay officials who are into drugs. They have no excuses,” the mayor added.

Estrada and other city officials subjected themselves to a drug test in the city hall last August, where no one tested positive. JE/rga

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