Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna and all 36 Manila councilors passed the recent drug test conducted by the Manila government.
Estrada was elated that none of the members of the city council tested positive for illegal drugs on August 18.
Rank-and-file employees of the city hall, including the department heads, are next in line, he said. “Those who will be found positive will automatically be dismissed from the service,” Estrada warned.
A surprise drug test was administered on the city council by One Health Medical Laboratory Inc. headed by medical technologist Milagros Dolor.
It was the first time in recent years that a city mayor voluntarily submitted himself to a drug test, which is also the first ever to be conducted at the Manila City Hall.
Estrada said the random drug test was conducted to set an example to the two million Manileños and to show that he is determined to eliminate banned drugs in the capital city.
The mayor’s crusade against drugs began when he was elected vice president in 1992 and appointed head of the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission.
His anti-drug strategy rests on relentless law enforcement and early prevention through the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program he launched in 1993 and implemented in Manila since 2013.
Originally from the United States, the DARE educates schoolchildren in the dangers of drug addiction.
It taps active duty police officers as instructors who go to classrooms teaching one-hour, once-a-week DARE lessons to Grade 5 and 6 students.