Several employees at Negros Occidental provincial government hospitals tested positive for illegal drug use during a regular mandatory random drug testing program, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson confirmed on Tuesday, Oct. 13.
Lacson did not specify the exact number of affected personnel, but noted that their urine samples have been submitted to the Department of Health (DOH) for confirmatory testing.
He governor said that casual employees confirmed to be using illegal drugs will face immediate dismissal. Regular employees, on the other hand, will be subject to Civil Service Commission (CSC) guidelines, which allow for a second chance through rehabilitation, he said.
The screening was conducted by the Provincial Human Resource Management Office (PHRMO), which collected urine samples from a total of 1,962 employees across seven provincial government facilities.
Among the facilities covered were:
- Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital (673 samples)
- Cadiz District Hospital (341 samples)
- Lorenzo D. Zayco District Hospital (284 samples)
- Don Salvador Benedicto District Hospital (177 samples)
- Gov. Valeriano M. Gatuslao Memorial District Hospital (175 samples)
- Economic Enterprise Development Department (EEDD)-Mambukal (168 samples)
- Hinoba-an District Hospital (145 samples).*