Immigration employees test negative for drugs

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

All 117 employees from the Bureau of Immigration who underwent a surprise drug test were found negative of any drug traces, according to the Philippine National Police (PNP) Crime Laboratory thru Police Sr Inspector Aileen Yagono.

The 117 Immigration personnel are from the bureau’s Intelligence Division, Office of the Commissioner and Division heads. BI Chief Jaime Morente led the drug test.

“We must have moral ascendancy in our fight against illegal drugs. This is just the start of a series of surprise drug tests that I will be conducting to make sure that the Bureau of Immigration is drug-free,” Morente told members of media after the drug test Thursday.

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He explained that he started with the bureau’s intelligence personnel because they play a key role in the efforts to eradicate corruption in the bureau and in ensuring that BI personnel delivering frontline services do their job efficiently. He gave the Intelligence Division the additional task of monitoring and building up cases against BI personnel who may be engaged in unlawful activities which put the bureau and our country in a very bad light.

“We need to deliver on the pronouncement of President Rodrigo R Duterte to eradicate corruption and hasten government transactions”, Morente said.

The new Immigration Chief who formally assumed his post last July 1 said that intelligence personnel should have the moral ascendancy in doing their job. Otherwise, they cannot clean the bureau if they themselves who are tasked to do the job are not also clean. CDG