MANILA, Philippines – The San Juan vice mayor's office and health officials are now allowed to conduct random drug tests among high school and college students in the city under an ordinance recently passed by the council and signed by Mayor J.V. Ejercito.
"This is a preventive program undertaken by the administration of Mayor Ejercito to show that the government is unrelenting in its drive against drug abuse, knowing its subsequent ill effects not only to humans but to the society as well,” Councilor Dante Santiago, author of the ordinance, said on Friday.
The ordinance justifies the random testing on the basis of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 that allows school officials to conduct random drug testing among students as long as the parents or guardians are notified.
The drug testing may be done on urine, saliva, and other modern methods.
Schools that voluntarily undertake drug tests among their students will be required to submit a certification from the drug-testing firm and a certified true copy of the results.
The tests shall be conducted in coordination with the local officials from the Department of Education (DepEd), school officials or their representatives, parent association officers, parents, and other authorized officials.
A student who fails the drug test will have to undergo a confirmatory test, also at the expense of the city government, at any of the government-accredited laboratories, like the Camp Crame Crime Laboratory.
If the students fail again, he or she will have to go through drug prevention seminars, programs, or counseling, along with his or her parents or guardians.
Among the schools that have expressed support for the ordinance are the Immaculate Conception Academy, OB Montessori, Dominican College, Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) San Juan Campus, and San Juan National High School. - GMANews.TV
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