DOJ backs ‘one strike’ policy against drug use in gov’t
Secretary Menardo Guevarra said yesterday the Department of Justice (DOJ) supports the Dangerous Drugs Board’s (DDB’s) stand on the dismissal of government officials and employees found positive for illegal drugs use even for the first time.
“I agree that a government official or employee found positive for illegal drugs use should be dismissed,” Guevarra said as he emphasized that “the government’s campaign against illegal drugs should include, first and foremost, its own ranks.”
Guevarra reacted to the pronouncement of DDB Chairman Catalino Uy who earlier had declared that public officials and employees should be dismissed from the service once found positive for illegal drugs use for the first offense.
He said that “government official found guilty of a criminal offense, malversation, for example, is also administratively liable.”
Thus, he said, the DOJ stands firm that the government should be strict with its own ranks and implement the one-strike policy in illegal drugs use.
Earlier, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) had passed a resolution that prescribed treatment and rehabilitation for government employees found positive for illegal drugs use.
But later both the DDB and the CSC agreed that uniformed members of the law enforcement agencies – police, military, and agents of the PDEA and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) – should be covered by the one-strike policy in illegal drugs use.
Published statistics showed that from July 2016 to June this year, the gov- ernment’s campaign against illegal drugs has resulted in the arrest of 147,802 individuals.
The same data showed that of those arrested 229 were elected officials, 52 were members of law enforcement agencies, and 245 were government employees.