Mike, Tom tested
Rama passes urine test; both await results of hair follicle test
Why did ex-mayor Michael Rama issue the challenge last Friday? “Six months have passed and it’s still being mentioned as a matter of discussion for him. Kinsa man ang wa ka move on ani (Who hasn’t moved on here)?” Mayor Tomas Osmeña submits a hair follicle sample in a separate test, and then challenges Rama to a lie detector test
FORMER Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama and Mayor Tomas Osmeña submitted themselves to separate drug tests yesterday, rekindling an issue from the campaign more than half a year ago.
After the drug test, Osmeña also challenged Rama to undergo a lie detector test and answer all the allegations against him.
Rama, who had challenged Osmeña to undergo a drug test together, was the first one to submit himself to two exams yesterday morning. One test, based on a urine sample, showed he had no trace of illegal substances in his system.
Results of the other test, which used a hair follicle, will be out in two weeks. It was the same kind of test that Osmeña underwent yesterday.
Rama arrived at Plaza Independencia five minutes before 9 a.m., where he waited for Osmeña for 45 minutes before he proceeded to Hi-Precision Diagnostics along Osmeña Boulevard.
He submitted urine and hair follicle samples inside the private clinic to prove wrong those who have accused him of being a drug addict.
Negative
The test based on the urine sample showed there was no trace of meth or cannabis in the lawyer’s system. The result of the hair follicle drug test, on the other hand, will be out in two weeks.
“I just want all these things to be over. Six months have passed and it’s still being mentioned as a matter of discussion for him. Kinsa man ang
wa ka move on ani? (Who hasn’t moved on here?) I’m not afraid because I’ve been negative and the result will be negative; why it should be positive? I’ve never been an addict and I will never be an addict; passionate, yes, but addictive or addiction, no,” he told reporters.
Rama said he never expected Osmeña to show up yesterday but that he was ready to proceed with the drug test.
After Rama’s test, Osmeña submitted himself to a separate drug test yesterday afternoon in the St. Vincent General Hospital.
Although he submitted a hair follicle sample, Osmeña said it will be up to lawyer Augustus Go where to forward it for the test.
Reputation
Go, who owns the hospital, accompanied the mayor when he submitted his hair sample.
“It’s up to him (Go) who to give it to, but he is the caretaker. I don’t think this hospital has the ability to really analyze (the hair follicle drug test), I think there are very few (laboratories) who can do that. But I don’t care; you can have it (tested) by the most competent laboratory even in Singapore, Hong Kong or whatever. I have nothing to fear,” Osmeña said.
Asked why he chose St. Vincent Hospital, Osmeña said he relied on Go’s “very credible reputation.”
“I can’t afford to bribe Augusto Go. He doesn’t need my money and I don’t have money,” he added.
The mayor also said he expected that people would question the results had he gone to a government-operated clinic, especially one staffed by his appointees.
Osmeña said he chose not to join Rama during his drug test because he had things to do before his visit at St. Vincent.
“Showbiz lang na si Rama oy. I have things to (attend to). I’m a busy man. Rama has nothing to do so he should be the one to adjust, not me. He has nothing to do,” he said.
That list
Unlike his previous statement that a hair follicle test can detect drugs within a year after these entered a person’s system, Osmeña said he has learned from “some specialists” that having a haircut five months after using drugs might help one pass the test.
“Actually, I just checked with some specialists. If after five months you have your hair cut, there’s no more detection. It’s not in the follicle, it’s in the hair (strand) so maybe that’s why it took him (Rama) five months to say, ‘OK you can have me tested now’,” he said.
Despite the result of Rama’s first drug test yesterday, Osmeña said the issue still remains that Rama was named an alleged protector of a drug lord and he has to answer that.
Rama was one of more than 100 public officials whom President Rodrigo Duterte mentioned in August as alleged protectors of drug lords.
Osmeña said that barangays whose captains are allies of Rama remained drug-infested.
In response, Rama said that the mayor should stop running after barangay captains who are his political allies and should file cases in court if he finds any problem in their areas.