92 AFP personnel test positive for illegal drugs, dismissed from service

At least 92 uniformed and civilian personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines who tested positive for illegal drug use have been discharged or dismissed from the service since the start of the Duterte administration, the Department of National Defense said Tuesday.

In a statement, the DND said that among those removed from the service in 2016 were a military officer, 64 enlisted personnel, 14 civilian active auxiliaries (CAAs), and four civilian employees while nine enlisted personnel were discharged in 2017.

It said that a total of 30,974 military officers, enlisted personnel, and civilian employees of the AFP were subjected to drug testing in 2016 and an additional 1,821 were tested in 2017. 

The DND monitors the AFP in the conduct of anti-illegal drug operations in support to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Philippine National Police. It also supports the Inter-Agency Task Force for the establishment of Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Centers with the setting up of rehabilitation centers in certain military reservations.

To ensure that the DND is at the forefront of the administration’s thrust against the proliferation of illegal drugs, it conducted Tuesday a department-wide orientation seminar workshop for a drug-free workplace with the theme, “A Drug-Free Defense is a Credible Defense,” at the AFP Commissioned Officers Club in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City. 

Resource speakers from PDEA, Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB), Department of Health (DOH), Civil Service Commission (CSC), and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) discussed the Global and National Drug Situation; Government Efforts, Programs and Activities on Drug Prevention and Control; Treatment and Rehabilitation; Guidelines for a Drug-Free Workplace; and the Reintegration and Transformation Program of the National Government.

Earlier this year, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana signed a memorandum with DND-Proper and its bureaus directing the implementation of the guidelines for a drug-free workplace as part of the DND-Wide Implementing Plan for Calendar Year 2017.

The memorandum includes the conduct of mandatory drug test as a pre-employment requirement; random drug test for personnel; advocacy, education and training programs and activities; display of messages for a drug-free workplace; and physical fitness programs. — Amita Legaspi/RSJ, GMA News