DepEd joins anti-drug war

The Department of Education (DepEd) announced yesterday that secondary students, elementary and secondary school teachers as well as officers and personnel from its central, regional, and school division offices will undergo random drug testing in support of the administration’s war on illegal drugs.

The mandatory drug testing is based on Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. Under Section 36, students of secondary and tertiary schools shall undergo a random drug testing pursuant to the related rules and regulations as contained in the school’s student handbook and with notice to the parents. The Act also requires officers and employees of public and private offices, whether domestic or overseas, to undergo a random drug test.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones said that before the conduct of the random drug testing, DepEd personnel will have to undergo an orientation-seminar geared toward providing awareness on various aspects

of drug testing. She said the activity is in preparation for the actual drug testing of select students, teachers, and personnel. DepEd will conduct the orientation-training on the drug testing program starting this month until April.

In preparation for the random drug testing of students, teachers, and personnel for 2017, the DepEd will conduct an orientation-training in six clusters in the following locations: Angeles City (for Regions II and III); Manila (for Regions IV-A, IV-B, V, and VIII); Cebu City (for Regions VI and VII); Davao City (for Regions IX, XI, XII, ARMM); Cagayan de Oro (for Region X and CARAGA); and Baguio City (for Region I and CAR).

DepEd said that the orientation-training aims to provide awareness on the legal and regulatory aspect of drug testing; orient and train regional and Schools Division personnel on specimen collection and testing; discuss the initial assessment and intervention for students tested positive for drug use; and train participants on documentation and recording of drug testing process.

The activity, the DepEd said, will include two participants from each regional office (health coordinator, and Regional Director or authorized representative); six participants from the Schools Division offices (school division superintendent, medical officer, guidance counselor, two division nurses, and principal); 10 facilitators/resource persons, and six secretariat personnel from the Central Office.

In 2016, Briones announced that it will conduct drug testing among its teachers and students – with their parents’ consent – after receiving reports that some of them are allegedly involved in using and selling of illegal drugs.

In response to the marching order of the President, Briones said that DepEd is also strengthening the preventive drug education component in Science and Health by providing real-life lessons and alternative learning methods to make the delivery much more realistic and effective, starting Grade 4. Mixed views A group of teachers welcomed the plan of the DepEd to conduct drug test among select students, teachers and other DepEd personnel.

The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC), a 30,000-strong group, expressed support to the random drug testing for DepEd personnel and students in the country’s public elementary and secondary schools.

TDC National Chairperson Benjo Basas said that DepEd’s plan to have its personnel – especially teachers tested on illegal substance – is welcome. “DepEd’s role in government’s anti-drug effort is crucial and that the teachers should serve as role models for our youth and people in general,” he said.

Basas noted that his group believes “that strengthening the important institutions like schools, in the long run, would be a more effective way to reduce, if not totally eliminate drug menace in our society.”

However, a youth group expressed concerned on the possible conduct of drug testing among college students. Earlier, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) welcomed the proposal to conduct drug test among students in the tertiary level.

CHED’s Executive Director Julito Vitriolo said that the commission is looking into the possibility of making drug testing a requirement for admission of all incoming Higher Education Institutions’ (HEIs) students.

But Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan (Spark) strongly denounced CHED’s proposed policy “as promoting a discriminatory, stigmatizing and skewed approach to solving the drug problem” in line with the current administration’s campaign against illegal drugs.

Spark concurred that while the youth “are vulnerable to drug dependence,” the group “maintains that bringing the war on drugs in the campuses will not solve anything, for evidently the drug war is unwinnable.”

“We find drug testing founded on randomness ingenuous because it does not incriminate students tested with positive results,” the group said. Spark added that the CHED’s proposed policy is “outright unjust and discriminatory.”

The group said that “while random drug testing is crucial to prevent further drug dependence, a non-random mandatory one administered before a student’s admission to the school could be used as the sole benchmark on whether or not a student should be retained in school.” This, Spark added, “prevents the very victims of attaining a chance and exercising their primary right to education.”

Clarissa Villegas of Spark said that even with the rehabilitation, “the stigma it would pose for the students who tested positive is also not reflective of the student’s actual drug problem.” The group believes that drug addiction should be treated as a solvable public health issue.

Villegas suggested that if the current administration really wants to tackle the youth’s drug problem, they should also start focusing on outof-school youths by waging a war on poverty instead.

Drug rehab centers

Meanwhile, drug rehabilitation centers, inclusive businesses, and climate change-related projects will be part of the government’s investment priorities plan in the next three years.

President Duterte recently approved a broadened 2017 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP) or the list of priority investment activities that may be given incentives by the government.

In Memorandum Order No.12, the IPP, which carries the theme “Scaling Up and Disbursing Opportunities,” aims to spur inclusive growth and generate jobs especially in the countryside.

The 10 “preferred activities for investment” are manufacturing including agriprocessing; agriculture, fishery and forestry; strategic services; infrastructure and logistics including local government unit public-private partnerships; healthcare services including drug rehabilitation; mass housing; inclusive business models; environment and climate change; innovation drivers; and energy.

Along considered priorities are export activities, activities based on special laws that grant incentives, and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The new IPP will also provide fiscal support for inclusive business models or activities in agribusiness and tourism sectors that benefit micro and small enterprises.

It also reduced the price ceiling for mass housing units to P2 million from P3 million previously. Except for in-city low-cost housing for lease, only projects outside Metro Manila may qualify for incentives.

“Upon effectivity of the IPP, all government agencies and entities are enjoined to issue the necessary regulations to ensure its implementation in a synchronized and integrated manner,” the memorandum order read.

“No government body shall adopt any policy or take any course of action contrary to, or inconsistent with, the IPP,” it added.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez explained that they decided to adjust the IPP coverage in line with the administration’s goal to spread economic growth to a broader segment of the population.

Lopez said the government’s investment plan was different from the 2014 plan following “the inclusion of micro-, small- and medium-scale enterprises-oriented, innovation-driven, health- and environment-conscious activities that look at expanding job opportunities for more segments of the population and bringing more firms into the local and global value chains.”

“In addition, there is a deliberate policy to shift investments to the countryside,” Lopez, chairman of the Board of Investments, said in his foreword.

He said the government also aims to attract more investors in sectors and regions that can help address the inequality of growth and the jobs gap in the country.

“Using experience from keeping industry roadmaps and implementing the new industrial policy, this IPP seeks to transform both the manufacturing and agricultural sectors by expanding their forward and backward linkages, particularly with MSMEs,” he said.

“The 2017 IPP is emphasizing two things – continuity of industrial policy direction and its implementation; and the identification of opportunities that can directly impact the lives of participants in the growth process,” he added.

He said the investment priorities plan was crafted following “analytical and participative” study and consultation with stakeholders. (With a report from Genalyn D. Kabiling)