DAVAO CITY – Davao City mayor Sara Duterte directed the Davao City Police Office to deepen its investigation to determine who among the employees of the city government are involved in prohibited drug activities after two workers were arrested for selling illegal drugs this month.
Duterte said the local government of Davao wants to maintain a drug-free workplace and warned government employees of dismissal from service if they are found involved in illegal drugs.
She expressed concern that the presence of even just one employee in government service already sets a bad precedent to the city’s campaign on drug-free workplace.
“We are in government and we should not be involved in illegal drugs because we should be the ones to put a stop to illegal drugs in our city,” she said.
She said the city’s Anti-Drug Abuse Council, headed by City Sports Development Division 's Mikey Aportadera, is conducting random drug testing to check who among the city government employees are using or selling illegal drugs.
“If (the employees are) job order or contract of service, they will be dismissed. Once they are positive for drug-use, they will be dismissed. And if they are plantilla employees or are holding permanent positions, we refer them to HRMO (Human Resource Management Office) for actions,” she added.
Last December 18, Duterte said that high crime rates are normally seen in communities considered as hotspots.
To maintain its status as a competitive city, Duterte said peace and order must remain stable.
“In a way, it’s saddening because we have city government employees who are like that. No matter how hard we try to provide them better benefits and all, making them happy employees, there are still people who will go to the other side,”she said.
She said the local government wants to get rid of workers who use illegal drugs to ensure that “we are not funding drug-use or drug business using government funds.”