Pubdate: Tue, 27 Jan 2009 Source: Philippine Star (Philippines) Copyright: PhilSTAR Daily Inc. 2009 Contact: http://www.philstar.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/622 Author: Rainier Allan Ronda Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing) CHED TO CONDUCT RANDOM DRUG TESTING ON STUDENTS The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) will begin to conduct random drug testing on students and faculty members of more than 1,700 colleges and universities all over the country next month. Dr. Emmanuel Angeles, CHED chairman, also bared the release of P6 million for the program. Angeles said that the tests would be given randomly and that the results would be kept secret. "The drug tests will cover all 1,726 colleges and universities in the country," Angeles said at a press briefing. He said students who test positive would undergo counseling and would be subject to regular monitoring. Habitual users would be made to undergo drug rehabilitation. Dr. Karen Castaneda, director of CHED's Office for Programs and Standards, said the fund allocation would be enough for 15 drug tests per institution. She pointed out that they had already conducted random drug tests in some schools and that the current program would expand the coverage of the testing to include all institutions of higher learning. Castaneda recalled that in previous years' drug testing campaign, students who tested positive for drug use were mostly from provincial schools, particularly in the Caraga and Cordillera regions. Last year's drug testing covered 250 colleges and universities. Gov't Officials First The United Opposition challenged President Arroyo yesterday to start the mandatory drug testing in her own backyard, with her officials, law enforcers and their families being made to undergo the procedure first. "If the Arroyo administration is serious about winning the war against illegal drugs, government officials and law enforcers as well as their families who can afford drugs in the first place should be the ones to undergo mandatory drug testing first," UNO spokesman Adel Tamano said. Tamano said drug testing would be a potential money-making scheme for the Arroyo administration. "The only plausible reason that the Arroyo administration is choosing the public school system for drug testing is because it is a potential money making scheme involving more than a million students in over 8,000 schools," he said. "It does not take a genius to understand that the billions of pesos involved are better used to close the gap in the lack of classrooms and books in the public school system." He said the proposed drug testing would only lead to more corruption, like the drug test program of the Land Transportation Office for applicants of driver's license. He said many drivers of utility vehicles complain that corrupt LTO personnel use the program for extortion. "This is not the serious preemptive war on drugs that was promised by President Arroyo, the self-proclaimed anti-drug czar," Tamano said. - With Rodel Clapano - --- MAP posted-by: Doug