A total of 554 officers and employees from Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) voluntarily submitted themselves to drug test Monday in support to President Rodrigo Duterte’s aggressive fight against illegal drugs and to show to the world that PCSO is a drug-free government agency, General Manager Alexander Balutan said on Tuesday.
The test was administered to 54 employees from San Marcelino, 398 employees from the main office, and 102 from the Lung Center of the Philippines, in compliance with the Civil Service (CSC) Memorandum Circular No. 13 s. 2017 issued on April 19, 2017 where incumbent public officials and employees of government agencies and government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) shall be made to undergo a “mandatory, random, and suspicionless” drug testing as a condition for retention in service.
The drug testing shall only be conducted by a government drug testing laboratory or by a drug testing laboratory duly authorized and accredited by the Department of Health.
APMDI is a private accredited drug screening laboratory of the Department of Health, conducting drug testing program since 2000 for private companies, government agencies, GOCCs, including local and international schools in the Philippines.
Once the employee has been informed, he needs to fill up the Drug Testing Custody and Control Form for proper identification, declaring all possible medications he has taken in the last 30 days.
DOH is currently using the Integrated Drug Test Operations Management Information System (IDTOMIS), an integrated system that captures data for accrediting drug testing laboratories and rehabilitation centers, drug testing operations at different levels of implementation, verification of pending transactions, monitoring and evaluation of standards, systems and performance.
Specimen samples found positive in the screening test shall be submitted for confirmatory testing within the same day.
The head of office/agency or his/her designated person shall notify the official or employee of the positive result from the confirmatory test, and the latter has 15 days from receipt of notice to challenge the result.
Failure to file a challenge within the prescribed period shall make the positive drug test result from the confirmatory test final. A positive result from the challenge test is likewise deemed final.
Employee concerned shall be notified and shall undergo a Drug Dependency Examination to be conducted by the DOH or by any of its accredited medical practitioners to determine whether he/she falls under the category of experimenter, occasional user, or chronic user/drug dependent.
As mandated by law, a drug dependent is declared unfit to work and has to undergo rehabilitation for up to six months (minimum) with an 18-month post rehab care.
He will be given a chance to go back to work after rehab but he needs to comply with the terms and conditions and prove that he is not drug dependent and drug-free.
