The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines terminated six employees who were tested positive for drug use following a series of urine testing on more than 2,000 workers at various airports nationwide.
The series of random drug tests, conducted from Feb. 6 to April 30, 2019 by the CAAP-Office of the Flight Surgeon and Aviation Medicine (OFSAM) covered 2,548 personnel and 104 aircrews.
CAAP spokesperson and chief information officer Eric Apolonio said those found positive for drug use are all job order employees of the agency.
He said the agency’s Human Resource and Management Division also revealed that the six employees, who tested positive in the substance methamphetamine, are all serving as airport facility cleaners.
The CAAP assured that the “operational safety of the airports and aircraft were not put at risk.”
“The employees who tested positive in the illegal substance has been immediately terminated from their respective posts,” said Apolonio.
The CAAP conducted the drug tests on the airports at Tuguegarao, Kalibo, Mactan Cebu, Laoag, Bacolod, Dumaguete, Puerto Princesa, Zamboanga, General Santos, Iloilo, Davao, Legazpi, Laguindingan, Clark, Naga, Busuanga, Roxas and Panglao.
The random drug tests is in accordance with CAAP’s mission of ensuring a safe, secure, and green Philippine skies.
The aviation regulator manages 81 airports nationwide while four others are controlled by other airport authorities—the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Subic Bay International Airport, Clark International Airport, and Cebu-Mactan International Airport.
In 2016, CAAP also terminated more than 30 personnel who tested positive for drug use.
CAAP employs around 5,555 personnel nationwide and 3,500 are regular workers, most of whom are technical personnel involved in air traffic management.
The agency's Anti-Illegal Drug Testing Program is based on a March 7, 2013 memorandum which consists of provisions from Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drug Act of 2002, the Civil Service Commission’s memorandum circular 13 series of 2010 which calls for a drug-free workplace in the bureaucracy, and the Philippine Civil Aviation Regulation on Psychoactive Testing and Reporting.