Police official flunks drug test

Iloilo City — A high-ranking police official in Western Visayas is facing summary dismissal proceedings after he tested positive for illegal drug use.

Supt. Venerando Gordon, who was set to retire in November next year, might also lose his retirement benefits, according to Chief Supt. Cipriano Querol Jr., Western Visayas police director.

Gordon, who was assigned at the Regional Headquarters Support Unit in Camp Martin Delgado in Iloilo City, tested positive for methamphetamine hydrochloride, popularly known as “shabu,” in a random drug test on officials assigned at the regional police headquarters.

The test was conducted by chemists of the Police Regional Police Office in Western Visayas (PRO-6) crime laboratory.

Querol said Gordon was the only one who tested positive for illegal drug use among 30 police officers who underwent a random drug test in February.

Gordon has no firearm issued by the Philippine National Police but personally owns a gun covered with a license and a permit to carry (PTC).

“I have ordered the revocation of the license and PTC covering his firearm as a precautionary measure,” Querol told the Inquirer yesterday.

Gordon took a leave of absence after results of the drug test was released on Feb. 3. He took another drug test on April 1 which turned out negative.

But Querol said dismissal proceedings would be pursued against Gordon on charges of grave misconduct.

“If he (is) found guilty and ordered dismissed, all his retirement benefits will be forfeited,” Querol said. He said the random drug tests even among top officials of the police would continue to eliminate drug users in their ranks.  /INQUIRER