INTERIOR Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr yesterday urged candidates in the upcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) to take a drug test before they file their certificates of candidacy, as PNP chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. said some 430 incumbent barangay officials are reportedly involved in illegal drugs.
In an ambush interview at a Quezon City hotel, Abalos said candidates should prove that they deserve to be elected by their constituents when they cast their votes on October 30.
The secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) said barangay and youth leaders should take the lead in the Marcos administration’s campaign against illegal drugs, which Abalos said remains to be one of the government’s biggest challenges.
“The administration of President Marcos Jr. has vowed to sustain the anti-drug war operations of the previous Duterte administration to finally end the menace. To all the candidates, we are fighting a war that is (a) global problem. If they want to run (and) serve the country, I am calling on all candidates to undergo drug test to show you are prepared to serve,” Abalos said.
Acorda said PNP records show that some 430 barangay officials are allegedly involved in illegal drugs, with some even included in the police’s list of High-Value Individuals and Street-Level Individuals in the war against drugs.
“Based on our update, there are more or less 430 personalities (barangay officials) … many of them are in Region VI (Western Visayas),” Acorda said, adding: “They are subject of our operations, intelligence-drive operations.”
The PNP chief said the officials’ involvement in the illegal drugs trade vary. “Some are pushers, some are protectors while others are financiers,” he said.
Acorda urged the public not to vote for candidates who are involved in illegal drugs.
“I want to take this opportunity to appeal to voters not to consider candidates who have involvement in illegal drugs, to become our next set of barangay officials,” he said.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) dumped cold water on Abalos’ proposal, saying that the Supreme Court has already ruled that election candidates cannot be mandated to take drug testing prior to participating in any electoral exercise.
Comelec chairman George Garcia said the poll body is not looking at making drug testing as a requirement in the BSKE.
“(It is) unconstitutional. (There will be) no such requirement. The Supreme Court (SC) already has a decision on that matter,” Garcia said.
He was referring to the 2008 ruling of the SC on the Nene Pimentel Jr. vs Comelec case in relation to the poll body’s 2004 Comelec Resolution No. 6486 which required all candidates for public posts to undergo a mandatory drug test.
The SC ruled in 2008 that the Comelec cannot add to the constitutional provisions defining the qualifications or eligibility requirements for candidates. — With Gerard Naval
