LOOK: PDEA execs undergo surprise drug test
To prove that the agency is serious and capable in battling illegal drugs, officials of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) submitted themselves to a surprise drug test on Saturday.
During the agency’s second command conference in Quezon City, PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino as well as national staff and support service directors and regional directors submitted their urine samples for the mandatory drug test.
“This surprise drug test shows that PDEA, as the sole agency in battling the drug menace, is a drug-free workplace and a role model to other government agencies,” Aquino said.
“This will help establish our moral ascendancy and is part of the standard procedure in cleansing our ranks,” he added.
Despite being a small and compact agency, the PDEA was placed on the frontline by no less than President Rodrigo Duterte to implement the government’s war against illegal drugs, replacing the Philippine National Police.
Article continues after this advertisementDuterte’s decision came amid serious accusations of widespread human rights violations in the bloody anti-drug campaign, which has killed thousands of suspected drug criminals across the country.
Article continues after this advertisementAquino had vowed that there would be no human-rights abuses and extrajudicial killings in PDEA’s anti-narcotics operations and assured that the agency would strictly follow standard operating procedures. /jpv
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