DAVAO City Rep. Paolo Duterte has filed a bill mandating all elected officials, including the president, to undergo random mandatory drug testing in the wake of his father, former President Rodrigo Duterte’s allegation that President Marcos Jr. is into drugs.
House Bill No. 10744 seeks to require elected officials to undergo random drug testing every six months using their hair follicle and urine” for a more accurate result.”
“Considering the initiatives towards the deterrence of drug use and abuse, exemptions or favors in the mandatory nature of random drug testing shall not extend to certain class privilege such as the elected and appointed officials, since it becomes imperative upon their own mandate that they shall lead the life of modesty and integrity,” Rep. Duterte said in his explanatory note.
Last January, the elder Duterte, who is being investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity in connection with the thousands of deaths caused by his war on drugs, accused the President of being a drug addict.
Last month, administration lawmakers condemned the spread of a deepfake video of someone who resembles President Marcos Jr. taking illegal drugs, saying the AI-generated video was obviously meant to malign and attack the President hours before his State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA).
The video was shown during the so-called Maisug rally, which was organized by the Duterte family and their followers and has been disseminated through social media by pro-Duterte vloggers.
Last week, Vice President Sara Duterte said leaders should not be motivated by “cash, cocaine and champagne.”
Rep. Duterte’s bill also calls for institutionalizing voluntary random drug testing of candidates for electoral posts within 90 days before the elections, amending Republic Act 9165 or The Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
The proposed law states that authorized drug testing shall be done by government forensic laboratories or by any of the drug testing laboratories accredited and monitored by the Department of Health (DOH) to safeguard the quality of test results.
The DOH is also tasked under the bill to take steps in setting the price of the drug test with DOH-accredited drug testing centers to further reduce the cost of such tests.
The drug testing shall employ, among others, two testing methods: one, the screening test which should be done through a “hair follicle drug test” and will determine the positive result as well as the type of the drug used, second, the confirmatory test which shall be done through “urine drug test” that will confirm a positive screening test.
The drug test certificates issued by accredited drug testing centers shall be valid for a one-year period from the date of issue which may be used for other purposes.
Members of the so-called “Young Guns” at the House said they are ready to debate with Rep. Duterte but he must first go to work in Congress to defend it in person.
“If you are the author of a bill, you really have to show up, defend it, and explain why you want it to pass–first to the committee members, and then in (the) plenary for the majority of the House members to support it. So, kailangan talagang pumasok, pumunta doon, at idepensa ang bill (So you really have to go to work, go there, and defend the bill) to the best way that a legislator can,” Davao City Rep. Margarita Nograles told a joint press conference.
Taguig City Rep. Amparo Maria Zamora said she is excited to see Rep. Duterte attend and participate in committee hearings since she has yet to see the lawmaker regularly attend to his legislative duties.
Zamora mentioned that she might have missed him due to different committee assignments, while Nograles playfully tossed the question back to reporters, asking if they had seen Duterte around.
“Personally, I haven’t seen him here or in Davao,” Nograles said, adding with a chuckle, “gusto ko nga sana (I would want that).”
Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez (PL, 1-Rider) also highlighted the noticeable absence of the former President’s eldest son in Congress while Davao Oriental Rep. Cheeno Almario shared that he had seen Duterte only once, several months ago, during a plenary session. — With Christian Oineza
