PDEA drops mandatory drug test for elementary pupils

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) has dropped its proposal to conduct mandatory drug testing on elementary pupils following a meeting with officials of the Department of Education (DepEd).

Education Secretary Leonor Briones on Tuesday stood firm in her position that elementary pupils should not be subjected to mandatory drug testing.

Earlier that day, Briones, PDEA director general Aaron Aquino and Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) chairman Catalino Cuy led the meeting between education and law enforcement officials to discuss proposals to curb drug use among schoolchildren.

The DepEd said PDEA, DDB and Philippine National Police officials presented data on the supposed dramatic increase in the number of children who are involved in the use of prohibited substances.

Despite the data presented, Briones maintained that drug testing should be limited to secondary and tertiary students as mandated by the anti-illegal drug law.

“We agreed that we have our own responsibilities – for us, it’s preventive; for them, it’s enforcement,” she said.

“We have to respect what each of us is doing because we have the same goal, which is to fight illegal drugs,” the education chief added.

The four agencies agreed to share information and meet regularly to address the problem of illegal drugs, especially among students.

“The important thing is, I think, all of us realize that the drug problem is not only a police problem or an education problem. It’s a problem of the society,” Briones said.

“And this can only be minimized if the society also changes. We are engaged in the same battle. We are using different methodologies and we are focusing on different clientele,” she added.

High school, college testing

On the proposed mandatory drug testing for high school and college students, Education Undersecretary Annalyn Sevilla said an amendment to the current law may be needed as it does not provide for the conduct of mandatory drug tests.

Commission on Higher Education (CHED) officer-in- charge J. Prospero de Vera III said they are willing to meet with the PDEA to discuss the matter.

“The power to decide on mandatory random drug testing rests on the board of regents of public higher education institutions and officials of private HEIs,” he told The STAR.

“CHED has issued guidelines for HEIs conducting testing to make sure standards are the same across HEIs,” he added.

De Vera said drug testing should be a health intervention concern to identify drug dependents so they can be given appropriate health and psychological assistance.

He said the guidelines also ensure the confidentiality of information and that proper government agencies conduct the tests.