Incoming National Police Chief Oscar Albayalde said aspirants and reelectionist in the forthcoming barangay elections should voluntary submit themselves to drug testing.
“If I were a candidate for a barangay office, maybe If I’m not hiding anything, I myself should volunteer for a drug test,” Albayalde said in a recent radio interview.
Albayalde said there’s no need for a law mandating village chief aspirants to undergo drug testing even as he urged voters to choose the deserving candidates.
About 289 barangay officials have been monitored for having allegedly involved in illegal drugs.
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agencysaid that most of the officials came from Mindanao while the Interior department called on the public to reject officials linked to illegal drugs.
Albayalde said village chiefs would undergo validation under the police watch list.
He said PNP has conducted a coordinating conference with the Commission on Elections relating to the holding of Barangay elections while he pressed for voters’ education on who among the candidates to elect.
President Rodrigo Duterte said he would not allow anyone contributing to the proliferation of drugs to be elected as barangay official.
“There will be [village] elections, okay. But remember, the drug situation is still very, very alive and vicious. So if those backed up by drug money will win as village captains, it will be another war, another killing,” he said.
Meanwhile, a party-list lawmaker on Monday batted for increased police visibility in schools amid rising incidents of theft and robbery of school equipment.
Kabayan Party-list Rep. Ron Salo said public schools, are soft targets of thieves and robbers because of inadequate number of watchmen and security guards, poor perimeter security, and poorly lit surroundings.
“There are frequent cases of computer thefts, CCTV equipment, and LCD projectors in schools. Worse, there are cases of high school students caught carrying guns. There are also rape cases where the victims are students, Salo said.
Salo also said reports reaching his office showed there are students who ended up as victims of the administration’s war on drugs, drug syndicates, hazing, and street gangs.
Salo also urged the National Police to compile the reports of its field offices so that the extent and depth of the problem could be determined and eventually resolved.
Officials of the Department of Education said that measures have been put in place to counter the problems on robbery and theft of school equipment.
