Solon moves for drug test for gov’t officials

A lawmaker from the Visayas is urging his colleagues in Congress to submit themselves, however humbling it may seem, to drug testing if only to show their resolve to fight the drug menace.

Nobody is above the law – not the drug lord, not the pusher and certainly not a drug user in the corridors of government, according to Iloilo Rep. Arthur D. Defensor.

Defensor filed House Bill No. 784 to require a mandatory drug test for all officials whether appointed or elected both in the national or local government.

"Let us take it one step further by requiring all elective government officials to undergo mandatory drug testing," Defensor said.

"The leaders in government should set the example – we cannot afford to remain indifferent to the drug situation which has reached harrowing proportions," Defensor added.

Defensor pointed out that the drug menace permeates all sectors of society. “It is of common knowledge that not a few users of illegal drugs are professionals such as doctors, lawyers and even elected officials," Defensor said.

Defensor believed that the situation will continue unabated unless the government is relentless in its campaign to destroy this illicit trade and weed out drug users from among its ranks.