ZAMBOANGA CITY — A total of 263 personnel and teaching staff of the Department of Education’s (DepEd) City Schools Division Office have undergone drug testing.
Dr. Rosalio Conturno Jr., education supervisor for school governance and operations division, on Friday said the drug testing was based on an order issued by the DepEd central office.
Conturno said of those who were tested, 125 are personnel of the City Schools Division Office and the remaining 138 are teachers, who were randomly selected from the different schools by the central office. He said two of the 138 randomly selected teachers failed to undergo drug test as one of them was admitted in a hospital while the other one had died.
He said the drug test was conducted on Wednesday by a team from the DepEd central office in coordination with the Department of Health (DOH).
Dr. Felix Romy Triambulo, City Schools Division officer-in-charge, said those who will test positive for illegal drugs will be subjected to confirmatory test.
Triambulo said sanctions will be slapped, which include termination from service, once it is confirmed they are hooked on illegal drugs.
The City Schools Division Office comprises 12 education districts with almost 8,000 teachers. (R. G. Antonet Go/PNA)
