The National Bureau of Investigation on Monday began drug testing on all employees of the bureau, both agents and non-agents, following President Rodrigo Duterte’s program to rid the country of drug users and dealers.
Sources in the NBI said that around 1,000 employees in the bureau were being tested for illegal drugs.
As of press time Monday, no employee of the NBI tested positive for drugs.
The source said the one handling the testing is the Office of the Deputy Director for Investigation.
The source said that a urine testing was being conducted by the NBI’s chemist to determine if an NBI personnel is positive or negative for illegal drugs.
Other ways to conduct drug testing in the Philippines include blood test.
In the United States, Canada and United Kingdom, drug testing is also being conducted through hair follicle tests, to detect the presence of illegal drugs.
Earlier, nine police officers have tested positive for illegal drug use following a surprise drug test conducted Friday.
Philippine National Police Director-General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa said the nine officials were from PNP regional offices.
Dela Rosa declined to name the officials pending a further confirmatory test to verify the presence of methamphetamine or shabu and THC metabolite or marijuana in their urine samples.
Should the nine cops again test positive for drugs, they will face administrative and criminal complaints.
The results of the confirmatory drug tests may be released in two to three days, Dela Rosa said.
The PNP chief also said he was alarmed over the findings of the initial test. “I have zero tolerance on drugs, tapos mayroong 9 nag-positive. Mataas ito, alarming ito.”
Dela Rosa himself underwent the drug test on Friday alongside 2,405 PNP personnel from the national headquarters, regional offices and police districts, including 75 high-ranking officials.
The test yielded negative results for 2,396 urine samples.
Dela Rosa ordered the surprise drug test just hours after he officially became the country’s top police official and announced a thorough revamp of the PNP.