Surprise drug test awaits remaining Capitol employees

A CAPITOL executive said yesterday that surprise drug test also awaits the remaining provincial government employees who were assigned out of town, especially in the district hospitals.

Provincial Human Resource Officer Anabelle Palic said that since it’s a surprise drug test, the date won’t be announced if when it will be inducted.

The committee will discuss when to conduct another surprise drug tests, she said.

Palic said that all 692 Bacolod-based provincial government employees have already undergone the drug test.

The provincial government has a total of about 3,000 employees. Of the number, more than 2,000 will still need to undergo the drug test.

Palic denied that there were some results of the drug tests that were already released.

“There are no results yet because of the bulk of those who took the tests. The testing center told us that maybe within the week, they may release some of the results,” Palic said.

The provincial government spent P399 per drug test of each employee and official.

Palic explained that the drug test is a requirement for all provincial government employees.

“For new hires, it is a requirement upon entry. For existing employees, there is a mandatory drug testing,” she said.*