Over a thousand Normin cops test negative of narcotics use

By NITZ ARANCON
Correspondent .

More than a thousand law enforcers belonging to various anti-drug units in the region have tested negative for illegal substance Camp Alagar Regional Director Chief Supt. Timoteo Pacleb said over the weekend.

“Nobody tested positive for drug use,” said Pacleb.

On July 27,  all police officers from the drug enforcement units (DEUs) in Northern Mindanao were subjected to the surprise drug testing conducted by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in the region during the 1st Anti-illegal drug Summit here.

“I felt doubly proud of our operatives for this result. It only shows that we have employed the right personnel for the job and once again affirmed that our operatives are worthy of public trust as shown in their unsullied records” Pacleb said.

Camp Alagar Spokesman Supt. Surki Sereñas said the drug enforcement units can now walk with pride that no one among them was found positive.

“This has given them moral ascendancy to enforce the law to the fullest extent,” he said.

Sereñas said the drug test was also to ensure that personnel who will compose the unit possess an unblemished service reputation and character beyond suspicion.

Supt. Rodolfo Hernandez, PRO-10 intelligence chief, said the random drug test was part “of our continuous campaign to cleanse our rank of misfits and undesirables, particularly our anti-illegal drugs operative.”

For his part, Pacleb said the drug testing will ensure “that only those personnel whose service reputation is unsullied, those whose record is unblemished and those whose character are beyond suspicion remain in our special unit such as the Drug Enforcement Unit”.