CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Authorities here destroyed more than P14.145 million worth of confiscated illegal and expired medicines on Friday, December 3.
In a cermAt the drug destruction ceremony, PDEA-10 said more than two kilos of “shabu” or crystal meth and marijuana, along with various expired medicines, were incinerated at the crematorium.
These drugs had already been presented as evidence in numerous drug cases in court, PDEA-10 said.
Jigger Montallana, PDEA-10 regional director, said the destruction of the illegal substances was to show that these drugs will not be “recycled” or resold.
“This is to dispel the public notion that drugs will circulate back to the streets. This is to assure our public that the drugs that were confiscated are properly destroyed as mandated by law,” Montallana added.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court should not have declared the mandatory drug testing of political candidates as “unconstitutional,” a local magistrate said.
The decision of the highest court may pave the way for political personalities involved in the illegal drug trade to be put in office, said Judge Arthur Abundiente, of the Regional Trial Court Branch 25 in Cagayan de Oro.
“We are at the risk of electing possibly a drug addict or somebody who is connected with the drug syndicate who can probably influence the drug trade,” Abundiente said in his message during the destruction of confiscated of illegal substances and expired medicines at the crematorium of a funeral home here Friday afternoon.
Abundiente’s sala is one of the two special drug courts in the city. He is also an author of a book on the country’s war on drugs.
The judge was referring to Commission on Elections Resolution 6486 and Section 36 (g) of Republic Act 9165 or the Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, that states: “All candidates for public office whether appointed or elected both in the national or local government shall undergo a mandatory drug test.”
Those found be positive for dangerous drugs use, the law added, shall be subject to the provisions of Section 15 of said Act.
Section 15 says that “a person apprehended or arrested, who is found to be positive for use of any dangerous drug, after a confirmatory test, shall be imposed a penalty of a minimum of six (6) months rehabilitation in a government center for the first offense, subject to the provisions of Article VIII of this Act.”
The Supreme Court prevailed over these two separate rulings when it deemed the policy as unconstitutional.
The issue on drug use among political figures resurfaced after Pres. Rodrigo Duterte, in one of his speeches last month, divulged that a presidential candidate is a cocaine addict.
A few days after Duterte’s speech, former senator and presidential aspirant Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had himself tested for illegal drugs. His result came out negative.
Other presidential candidates also followed suit. No one tested positive for illegal drugs.
Abundiente said the Supreme Court must make a distinction on the mandatory drug testing on election aspirants whether it’s a requirement or a qualification.
“That is a wrong decision because adding a required drug test result is not a qualification, it is only a requirement. You have to distinguish what is a qualification and what is a requirement,” he added.
