COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS WATCHING INTENSELY

DepEd Set To Launch Random Drug Testing In 15 Secondary Schools

The Department of Education (DepEd) has identified at least 15 secondary
schools that will undergo random drug testing on February 2, the agency's
Assistant Secretary for Special Projects Thelma Santos said on Tuesday.

Santos declined to reveal the names of the schools, but said all are in
Metro Manila and 15 students would be randomly selected for drug testing.

She also announced that the media would be invited to cover the launch of
the drug test program on February 2.

She added that random drug testing among non-teaching personnel would
follow immediate after the operation in schools.

Relatedly, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), still chafing that
government ignored its proposal to postpone the random drug testing to
students, vows it will strictly monitor the conduct of such activity in
schools.

"We will in the meantime intensify our monitoring of the implementation of
the random drug testing," CHR chairperson Leila de Lima vowed on Tuesday.

De Lima said that the commission will issue on February 2 an advisory to
remind the implementers about the rights of the youth at the same time
that it would also issue guidelines to school administrations.

"If there is a clear violation of human rights, we will definitely go with
the legal option," said de Lima, explaining that the Supreme Court ruling
in November 2008 that upheld the constitutionality of the random drug
testing for the period 2003 and 2005 did not mention the issue on human
rights.

The CHR also urged the students and teachers to report to the commission
if their rights were violated during the implementation of the random drug
testing to schools in Metro Manila, Cebu and Davao.

The Commission on Human Rights had asked for the postponement of random
drug testing so that its impact on students and effect on the government
program to fight drug menace could be studied further.

In a letter address to Dangerous Drugs Board Executive Director Edgar
Galvante dated January 19, de Lima stressed that the 2003 and 2005 random
drug testing conducted on the students has yet no justification or basis
that the random drug test earlier conducted effectively contributed to the
suppression of the drug problem.

The government spent more than P3.6 million in the 2003 and 2005
Department of Health random drug test activity in students, wherein out of
9,000 samples only .8 percent yielded positive as drug users, the
Commission on Human Rights said.

De Lima stressed that in a resource-strapped government, all programs must
be strategic and sustainable, adding that the government must focus on
more important components of the anti-drug campaign such as
rehabilitation, reintegration and education.

Meanwhile, Lawyer Adel Tamano, president of the Association of Local
Colleges and Universities in the country, slammed the proposed random drug
testing for students nationwide saying it showed the skewed priority of
the government.

Tamano said the resources to be utilized for the drug testing should
instead be put to better use like upgrading of facilities, salaries of the
faculty and research and development.

Santos disclosed that DepEd would spend around P25 million for the random
drug testing of a total of 250,000 students in public and private
secondary schools nationwide with P100 allotted for each student.

"The budget for the drug testing kit for each student is P30. The
confirmatory testing, the forms and everything else will amount to P100
per student," Santos added.

Santos, however, stressed that only shabu and marijuana can be detected
from the drug tests, since it would be too expensive for the DepEd to
purchase kits, which can identify traces of ecstasy and cocaine.

Earlier, the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) urged
DepEd to use its budget wisely instead of wasting it on the implementation
of a knee-jerk and shortsighted program of random drug testing in schools.

"Already scarce funds for education must be used wisely to buy basic
school needs like textbooks, classrooms and facilities and not for an
expensive and ineffective drug testing program," NUSP national President
Alvin Peters said in a statement.

The National Union of Students of the Philippines made the statement in a
reiteration of the students' opposition to random drug testing in schools.
The group added that arguments they made against the measure in 2002 still
apply today.

The NUSP instead urged education officials to focus their time and energy
on instituting a program that will include drug education in the
curriculum of schools.

"The measure is punitive, arbitrary and discriminatory and essentially
illustrates the lack of any comprehensive plan to go after the real
culprits in the drug problem: the drug dealers and corrupt government
officials who turn a blind eye to drug dealers' activities," Peters said.

The NUSP likewise questioned the effectiveness of drug testing in schools
to curb drug use among the youth saying that the United States which
started conducting drug tests in schools in 1998 had no conclusive
evidence to show that the measure was successful in discouraging drug
abuse.

President Gloria Arroyo recently ordered the revival of random drug
testing to students in the wake of issue of "Alabang boys," a group of
youth earlier arrested by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in a
buy-bust operation.