BAGUIO CITY – Six bus conductors and drivers tested positive of alleged substance abuse during the surprise drug test conducted by officials and personnel of the Cordillera offices of the Land Transportation Office (LTO-CAR) and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA-CAR) in various terminals around the city Thursday.
Lawyer Joshua Pablito, regional director of the Cordillera office of the Department of Transpiration (DOTR-CAR), said that the surprise drug test is still part of the agency’s Oplan Biyaheng Ayos Pasko 2024 in coordination with the PDEA-CAR to ensure the safe travel of public utility vehicles from their points of origin to their points of destination inside and outside the region.
He disclosed that some 98 bus conductors and drivers from the various terminals along Gov. Pack Road, Dangwa bus station and Slaughterhouse were subject to the random drug test by combined LTO-CR and PDEA-CAR personnel.
The DOTR-CAR official pointed out that the six bus conductors and drivers that tested positive of alleged substance abuse will undergo the necessary due process where they will be issued the requisite show cause orders and undergo the required hearings prior to the imposition of the appropriate penalties on them.
On the other hand, Pablito added that it will be the PDEA-car that will determine what kind of substance did the aforesaid individuals abuse as their initial test results will still be subject to the confirmatory tests by the concerned agency.
“We appeal to our bus companies to review their hiring policy for drivers and conductors so that those who will be hired are not using illegal substances. We want that our travelers will have a safe trip in going to and from their desired destinations,” Director Pablito stressed.
The surprise drug test for bus conductors and drivers is part of the efforts of both the LTO-CAR and PDEA-Car to ensure that those conveying travelers will be safe while en route to their destinations and back to their points of origin.
The Oplan Biyaheng Ayos is an institutionalized activity of concerned government agencies to ensure the safe, secure and convenient travel of passengers from their points of origin to their points of destination and vice versa during peak travel seasons such as the Holy Week break and the yuletide season.
Pablito claimed that the agency will continue conducting surprise drug tests and inspections in various public utility vehicle terminals in the different parts of the city and the different provinces on a periodic basis to ensure the proper monitoring of the personnel of transport companies and the road worthiness of their respective vehicles to achieve the purpose of the Oplan Biyaheng Ayos.
The bus drivers and conductors who will be found guilty of illegal substance abuse will face a penalty of suspension and fine depending on the results of the investigation that will be conducted by the LTO-CAR after having received their reply on the show cause orders and the hearings that will be conducted for the said purpose as part of the due process of law that will be afforded to them by the agency. By Dexter A. See
