ILOILO City – Five police officers in Western Visayas turned positive for the use of illegal drugs in tests conducted by the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) since December last year.
For the month of March, two police officers tested positive for methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu), PRO-6 records showed.
One was a police staff sergeant from Escalante City police station in Negros Occidental. He was tested on March 17.
The following day, another patrolman from the Binalbagan City police station, also in Negros Occidental, tested positive.
Both non-commissioned police officers were given 15 days to challenge the result of their drug tests.
The police officers were relieved from their units and reassigned to the Personnel Holding and Accounting Unit (PHAU) of the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO).
Their service firearms were turned over to their provincial supply accountability officer while they were under investigation.
Also in January this year, two police officers from Negros Occidental tested positive for drug use during the first batch of testing.
They were assigned in the municipal police stations of Candoni and Cauayan in Negros Occidental.
They also had the ranks of Police Corporal and Police Master Sergeant.
December last year, a drug test of a police corporal from the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) also yielded a positive result.
The three police officers are currently at the PRO-6 Regional PHAU.
These police officers will be charged with grave misconduct and may face dismissal from the service, according to Police Lieutenant Colonel Joem Malong, spokesperson of the PRO-6.
As of this writing, Malong said around 50 percent of police across the region already underwent drug testing since December 2020.
“We have drug tests every month and this is still ongoing. But, they were given 15 days to contest the result so they may undergo a confirmatory test,” Malong said.
“They still face administrative cases and if the result of their confirmatory tests would be negative, the case will be dropped,” Malong said.
Malong said around 1,800 police officers from the drug enforcement units in the region are required to undergo drug tests monthly, since they are holding drug cases to monitor their records.
It was in December last year when PRO-6 director Police Brigadier General Rolando Miranda ordered the mandatory drug testing of over 13,000 cops across Western Visayas.
The drug tests were being administered by the Regional Crime Laboratory Office and supervised by the Regional Investigation and Detective Management Division.
“This is to make sure that no PRO-6 personnel are involved in any drug activity either as user, pusher and drug protector,” Miranda stressed./PN
