DRUG TEST FOR PRIESTS URGED

Vizcaya Bishop Wants CBCP To Tackle Issue

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya ranking official of the Catholic Bishops
Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said he would propose that priests and
parish workers undergo drug tests at the next meeting of the influential
Church group.

Bishop Ramon Villena of the Bayombong diocese, said the proposal was first
made by lay leaders in this town to check if members of the clergy and lay
workers have fallen victim to drugs.

Villena, chairman of the CBCP ethics committee, said: "We appreciate our
lay leaders for proposing this drug test in the Church sector. I will fully
support it and I shall personally bring this out when the CBCP convenes for
its regular meeting."

He did not say when the meeting would take place.

When asked if Villena had heard of any priest or Church worker who was into
drugs, he answered, "Illicit affairs for some of our priests and church
workers, but I have never heard yet of a single one [using] drugs."

He did not elaborate but he was apparently referring to accusations of
sexual harassment lodged by the secretary of Bishop Teodoro Bacani of
Novaliches in Quezon City.

At the same time, Villena clarified that the proposed drug test for the
flock would be done selectively and on a case-to-case basis.

He said he found logic in the proposal of the lay workers, saying that
priests and church workers who are suspected of illegal drug use should not
be spared such tests.

"We all know that illegal drugs are a menace to society," Villena said.
"Drug users can always be saved and rehabilitated."

Villena believes it must first be established that those to be tested are
suspected drug users.

"We cannot compel everyone to [undertake] a drug test if they are not
suspects," Villena said. "Also, this should not be made mandatory in the
Church."

He also said that suspected drug users should take the drug test only in
reliable and accredited centers.

According to Villena, some drug-test centers have been shown to be
unreliable and inaccurate.

The bishop cited as an example the embarrassment that some players in the
Philippine Basketball Association underwent owing to an unreliable drug test.

"You know, even prominent basketball stars are not spared from unreliable
drug tests," he explained. "Say, for example, Zandro Limpot of Barangay
Ginebra. Was he really a drug user?"

"Nobody knows if the guy is into drugs but to me, he doesn't look like a
drug addict," Villena added. "This is what I mean when I said drug testing
should be reliable and accurate, so as not to put the person to [baseless]
public shame and embarrassment."

Recently, Interior and Local Government Secretary Joey Lina imposed
mandatory drug tests for policemen.

Lina, also officer in charge of the Dangerous Drugs Board, said that
students and politicians should take similar tests, as provided by the
Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act or Republic Act 9165.