ILOILO City – The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Western Visayas urged the Department of Education (DepEd) to conduct random drug test in high schools as a preemptive measure against drug addiction and trafficking.
Director Alex Tablate believed this would discourage students from taking or peddling illegal drugs.
His call was prompted by the recent arrest of students in antidrug buy-bust operations of the police in the city and province of Iloilo.
“Their arrest was alarming. At such a young age they are already into illegal drugs,” said Tablate.
He assured school authorities of secrecy.
“Teachers have nothing to worry about. We will not identify the students who would fail the drug test, neither would we name their schools,” said Tablate.
The drug test, said the PDEA director, is a way of helping protect students from illegal drugs.
If the students test positive, Tablate said, “We are willing to help them (get out of the addictive vice).”
Yesterday morning, another high school student was arrested in a buy-bust operation of the police. The 20-year-old Peter John Po was a Grade 10 student at Pavia National High School.
A resident of Barangay Cabugao Sur, Santa Barbara, Iloilo, Po yielded dried marijuana leaves.
On Nov. 7, Hanz Christian Seguia, 20, of Barangay San Nicholas, Oton, Iloilo and John Cedrie Cornelio, 18, of Bo. Obrero, La Paz district here were arrested in a police buy-bust operation in Barangay San Agustin, City Proper.
An undercover police officer bought from them a pack of dried marijuana leaves for P1,100.
Seguia was a Grade 12 student at St. Roberts International Academy while Cornelio was a Grade 11 student at Iloilo Doctors’ College.
A day after, on Nov. 8 at 5:30 p.m., another two students were busted in Barangay Bita-ogan, Passi City.
Darwin Carbolido, 19, and Charlie Laruya, 20, of Barangay Agtambo, Passi City were detained at the Passi City police station. An undercover officer of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office’s Special Operations Group (IPPO-SOG) bought from them P10,300 worth of shabu.
Carbolido was a student at John B. Lacson Foundation Maritime University taking up Bachelor of Science (BS) in Marine Engineering while Laruya was a student at Passi City College taking up BS in Hospitality Management student.
The police recovered 11 sachets of shabu, according to Police Major Jonathan Pinuela of the IPPO-SOG./PN
