Imposing a drug test for candidates of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) is not a requirement that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) can carry out, its top official said on Thursday, May 25.
"No. Unconstitutional. No such requirement," Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said in a message to reporters.
Garcia made the statement after Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benhur Abalos made a call to BSKE candidates to undergo a drug test amid police intelligence reports that there were around 430 barangay officials involved in illegal drug activities.
Abalos further mentioned that barangay officials should take the lead in fighting the problem of illegal drugs and leading by example by proving that they are clean.
However, the poll body chief stated that there is already a Supreme Court (SC) decision on the matter, citing the 2008 case of Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel, Jr. vs Comelec.
Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiangco also cited the cases of Manuel Laserna, Jr. vs Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) et al., and the Social Jus Justice Society vs DDB, all in 2008.
Here, the SC ruled to declare unconstitutional Sec. 36(g) of Republic Act (RA) 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act and Comelec Resolution No. 6486 which then required a negative drug test certificate as part of the filing of Certificates of Candidacy (COCs).