PERSONNEL of the Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) who tested positive for drug use will not be tolerated and will lose their employment.
CCTO head Raquel Arce said Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022, that 12 casual employees and one job order (JO) worker have yielded a positive result following a surprise drug test last week.
Arce said she was not shocked upon learning that some of CCTO’s personnel tested positive since it has been a long time already since their last drug test.
“Ako dili man gyud ko mo-tolerate, sorry. Bisan pag moingon nga mag-confirmation kay dili ko gusto nga pipila lang na sila unya mosagol sa organization, makadaot sa kinatibuk-an (I will not tolerate, sorry. Even if they say there should be a confirmation. I do not like them to be part of the organization because they can be detrimental to all),” she said.
Arce, later on, admitted that personnel who tested positive are still reporting to work pending the confirmatory test.
But Arce said this will reduce her burden in choosing who among the casual employees will not be renewed next year due to the budget ceiling for personal services set by the Department of Budget and Management.
The traffic office currently has 554 casual workers, 100 JOs, and 20 regular employees.
The series of drug tests in the City Hall has resulted in 40 workers who showed positive for using illegal substances out of the 3,000 employees who got tested.
In a separate interview, Mayor Michael Rama said this is a challenge for the Cebu City Government; but at the same time, this also shows that City Hall is transparent.
“I do not know with other LGU (local government unit) if they are doing what we call surprise testing, but I [will be] telling you if Cebu City has [one],” said Rama.
Rama said employees who tested positive will undergo different recovery programs under the Cebu City Office of Substance Abuse Prevention