New San Simon village officials undergo drug tests

SAN SIMON - As part of the campaign against illegal drugs implemented by the local police here, the newly-elected barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) officials of this town underwent random drug testing simultaneous to their mass oath-taking rites held Monday morning.

This town’s head cop Chief Inspector Louie Gonzaga ordered the random drug testing among new public officials to ensure that the local government here will remain drug-free and can participate in the war against illegal dr ugs.

“It was my initiative to conduct the random drug testing just to ensure that our barangay and SK officials are drug free because we are serious in our campaign against illegal drugs here,” he explained.

Gonzaga, who recently issued a stern warning against individuals involved in the proliferation of illegal drugs, furthered that the initiative also aims to ensure local officials can truthfully serve their purpose as leaders of the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council ( BADAC) .

The BADAC is considered as the first line of defense against the proliferation of prohibited drugs in the community and its members primarily consists of barangay officials and barangay sectoral representatives having first hand information about the members of the community.

Meanwhile, Gonzaga disclosed that the total 112 officials from the 12 villages here who submitted themselves all tested negative in the use of illegal drugs, while testing of SK officials was still ongoing as of yesterday aft er n oon.

He noted that the results were based from the urine sample submitted on-the-spot by the elected officials to the staff of the Municipal Health Office who facilitated the random drug testing.

“This is a positive development as it only shows that our elected barangay and SK officials are in line with our strong intention of making San Simon a drug free municipality,” Gonzaga said.