A pro-administration lawmaker on Saturday raised the need for a mandatory drug testing for public and private school teachers, including college professors and instructors, amid reports of increasing incidence of these mentors being arrested for their involvement in illegal drugs.
Samar Rep. Edgar Mary Sarmiento made the call after a school principal in his district was arrested by anti-narcotics operatives in a buy-bust operation.
The suspect was identified as Arnulfo Abellar, s school principal of the Department of Education-Danao 1 School in Tinambacan District in Calbayog City. He was arrested after he allegedly sold suspected shabu to an undercover anti-narcotics agent.
Seized from Abellar were three sachets of shabu worth P68,000, a .357 revolver and five pieces of ammunition.
Also recently, a 36-year old elementary school teacher in Cebu City identified as Neler Tagpuno was arrested for allegedly selling drugs.
Before that, a 49-year-old public school teacher identified as Emerlito Addun was arrested in Solana, Cagayan for drug pushing as well.
“There is an increasing trend of teachers being arrested for their involvement in illegal drugs. It looks like our schools are deliberately being targeted by these drug syndicates. The case in Calbayog City, which is part of my district, is worse because the suspect is a school principal,” Sarmiento, vice chairman of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs, said.
In pushing for his proposal, Sarmiento cited the Family Code, which states that “the school, its administrators and teachers, or the individual, entity or institution engaged in child are shall have special parental authority and responsibility over the minor child while under their supervision, instruction or custody.”
“That being the case, they have the responsibility to ensure that their students are protected from all types of criminal elements, including drug pushers” he said.
He added that reports of teachers and professors being arrested for peddling illegal drugs have become very rampant and there is now an emerging pattern that schools are now being targeted by narcotics syndicates.
“This is very, very alarming. Even our schools are not being spared by these drug peddlers. Even worse is the fact that some of our teachers and even school officials are involved in the drug trade. We must assure our parents that despite all these horror stories, our schools are still safe and our children are properly protected,” Sarmiento said.
“Public interest dictates that we should require a regular drug test for our school teachers and make sure that our schools are completely drug-free. We cannot win the war against illegal drugs if even our schools are already infiltrated by these drug syndicates,” Sarmiento added.