The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) on Tuesday said it did not find a single illegal drugs user from the initial batch of 2,635 employees whom the agency subjected to tests in 21 major airports across the country.
The Caap conducted the test pursuant to President Duterte’s anti-drug campaign, according to Caap director general Capt. Jim Sydiongco.
He said the tests were conducted to identify users of marijuana, shabu, cocaine, heroin and any of the so-called party drugs.
“The flight surgeon did not find any sign of users of these illegal and prohibited drugs [in this batch of],” Sydiongco said.
The Office of the Flight Surgeon and Aviation Medicine (OFSAM) performed the random drug testing from February to September this year.
The Caap has 6,056 employees, and those who were not among the more than 2,000 tested would be subject to test within the year, Sydiongco assured
“The OFSAM is diligently going around the country’s Caap-operated airports from Luzon to Mindanao in order to ensure that our airports are safe and drug-free.”
The random drug tests are conducted all year round, in accordance with Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, as well as the Civil Service Commission’s (CSC) Memorandum Circular 13 (series of 2010) calling for a drug-free workplace.
The drug test is also part of the Philippine Civil Aviation Regulation (PCAR) Psychoactive Testing and Reporting that requires drug testing on airport personnel.”
Aside from testing Caap personnel, several on-duty aircrew members from Philippine Airlines, PAL Express, Cebu Pacific, and Air Asia Philippines, who operated in any of the 21 major airports, also participated in the drug testing program.
“All aircrew members tested negative to prohibited drugs as well, the Caap chief said.
The aviation regulator manages 81 airports nationwide, while five others are under airport authorities, including the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Subic Bay International Airport, Clark International Airport, Cebu-Mactan International Airport, and Lal-lo North International Airport, located in Cagayan province.