Sagarbarria asks City Hall workers to take drug test

CEBU, Philippines - Dumaguete City Mayor Manuel Sagarbarria has requested the more than 1,000 employees of the city government to submit themselves voluntarily to a random drug test in connection with his administration’s resolve to address the drug menace.

The mayor said he will submit himself to a random drug test and wanted other city officials, from the vice mayor, city councilors, department heads, down to the lower ranked workers to also do the same, as he wanted the city to have a drug-free work place.

Sagarbarria made the request following the arrest of a city-paid member of the Police Auxiliary Unit during a buy-bust operation conducted by the Special Operations Group of the Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office on Tuesday.

The mayor received reports that PAU member, 35-year-old Roger Pis-an, had been frequenting a suspected drug den, has been reporting on and off for work and failed to report the last several days.

This prompted the mayor to direct the City Police, headed by Superintendent James Goforth to trace the whereabouts of Pis-an.

Pis-an was among the nine suspects arrested in four drug-bust operations conducted on Monday by the City Police, led by Goforth, the Provincial Anti-Illegal Drugs-Special Operations Task Group headed by Inspector Ryan Jay Orapa and the SOG under Senior Inspector Jul Muhammad Jamiri.  The other arrested suspects were Edmund Roy Peña, Anthony Bueno, Mary Burlasa, Lee Arieta, Joseph de Leon, Neil Gadiano, Jonathan Lingcon and Helbert Rahiol.

Orapa said the drug-bust team had confiscated from the suspects sachets of shabu, worth an estimated total of P90,000.

Meanwhile, the city detention cell is already congested with 90 percent of detainees who are drug personalities waiting for commitment to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Barangay Bajumpandan. Cell No. 1 has 13 detained drug personalities, Cell No. 2 has six  while Cell No. 3 has two.  (FREEMAN)