MANILA – Professors in colleges and universities will be included in the mandatory and random drug testing to be conducted nationwide by the government starting in February, the head of the Commission on Higher Education (Ched) announced.
Dr. Emmanuel Santos, the Ched chairman, warned that faculty members who fail the tests will not be allowed to teach unless they agree to undergo drug rehabilitation in accredited facilities in the Philippines.
“We are going to include not only students but members of the faculty in the random drug testing which we hope to implement in February,” Santos told a press briefing.
Under the law, the Ched exercises control and supervision over the 1,726 private and state-owned colleges and universities throughout the Philippines with a total population of about 2.5 million students.
To achieve this, Angeles said Ched has allocated the equivalent of more than $50,000 for the testing, which will be coordinated with the Department of Health
A Ched official estimated that the funding would be enough for 15 drug tests for each of the 1,726 higher institutions of learning to be covered.
On February 1, the government announced it would start the mandatory and random drug testing of students in all elementary and high schools throughout the country.
Officials said this is in line with the order of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the implementation of such tests since she took over direct command of the renewed campaign against illegal drugs.
In her order, President Arroyo cited warnings from the Dangerous Drugs Board and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Authority about the alarming increase in the number of young Filipinos who have fallen victim to illegal drugs.
On the part of Ched, Angeles said students and professors who test positive would be required to undergo drug rehabilitation, including counseling.
Meanwhile, a Ched official disclosed that in previous drug testing conducted by the commission, students who tested positive were mostly from colleges and universities from the provinces, particularly those located in the Caraga Region in Mindanao and the Cordillera Administrative Region in the Northern Luzon highlands.
At the same time, the United Opposition, through its spokesman lawyer Adel Tamano, challenged President Arroyo to start the mandatory testing at her own backyard, meaning the officials, law enforcers and their families being the first to undergo the procedure.
Tamano pointed out that these officials and their families can well afford these illegal drugs, especially shabu, also known as “ice” and “poor man’s cocaine.”
He also warned that the money to be spent in the drug testing in the country’s elementary and high schools could be put to better use by constructing more classrooms which the country urgently needs.
Tamano also warned the drug testing could lead to more corruption like the program initiated by the Land Transportation Office (LTO) for people applying for drivers’ licenses.
According to Tamano, many drivers of utility vehicles have complained that corrupt LTO used the mandatory drug tests to extort money from them.
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