Makati City Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay on Thursday expressed dismay after more barangay personnel were found positive for illegal drugs like methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu.
In a report to the mayor, Makati Anti-Drug Abuse Council (MADAC) operations chief Supt. Jaime Santos said his office tested a total of 1,450 barangay personnel from January to June, and 80 were positive for shabu.
Binay urged barangay leaders to take steps to weed out substance abusers and possible drug pushers from their work force.
He also ordered the termination of the services of six city government workers who tested positive for shabu during random drug tests conducted by MADAC from this year.
The six were among the 90 individuals who were found positive for the illegal substance out of a total of 2,337 workers in both government and private sectors who underwent random drug testing by MADAC during the six-month period.
“Drug addicts have no place in our city, much less in government agencies and offices tasked with the delivery of frontline services to the public,” Binay said.
RITCHIE A. HORARIO