SUBMIT SON MIKEY TO DRUG TEST: LAWMAKER DARES GLO

HOUSE minority floor leader Carlos Padilla of Nueva Vizcaya singled out
presidential son, Pampanga Vice Governor Mikey Arroyo, and challenged the
President to submit him to drug testing in a press briefing here last
Sunday.

"I am happy that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo accepted my challenge for
her to undergo drug testing, but I would be happier if the President would
also convince her son, Mikey, to follow suit," Padilla told reporters.

While he refused to give any explanation why he is challenging Vice Gov.
Mikey Arroyo, Padilla said that it would serve as a good example if members
of the First Family would join the President in the drug tests.

Padilla said that as president, it is but proper that she should undergo the
test herself, and as members of her family, the Arroyos should also be
subject to the same tests. These tests, he explained, should include husband
Mike, sons Mikey, Datu and Luli.

"I am willing to undergo the test, my family included, and even my son when
he comes back from Paris, France, but the President must be the example," he
added.

Meanwhile, Chief Supt. Virtus Gil, PNP deputy director for operations,
during his recent visit to Baguio, stressed that the 110,000 officers and
members of the PNP are mandated to undergo drug testing.

Gil, a former director of the Police Regional Office in the Cordilleras
(PRO-CAR), said that any policeman who refuses to submit himself to a drug
test could be charged for insubordination since all police officers are
mandated to follow orders.

BCPO Director Supt. Francisco Manalo Jr. said that the penalty for a
policeman's refusing direct orders to undergo these tests would be up to the
PRO-CAR to decide.