COTABATO
CITY --- All aspirants for the forthcoming village and Sangguniang Kabataan
elections in this city voluntarily submitted themselves last April 25 for drug
test to prove they are not in illegal drug trade.
The
candidates, numbering to more than 1,000, gathered at the city hall to undergo the drug test upon invitation of
Mayor Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi.
During
the program with local police, military, and the representative from the
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in attendance, the mayor challenged
all the aspirants to submit themselves to drug test.
No one
refused and everybody underwent the drug test, although many of them know such
testing is not compulsory.
“I am
doing this to prove I was never a drug user, pusher, or into the illegal drug
in any way,” an aspirant for village council member, who requested anonymity,
said.
Zamirah
Kasan Kadil, one of the candidates for the SK polls, lauded local officials for
posing the challenge.
“Through
this drug test, we can be sure all candidates are not into drugs,” she said.
Director
Juvenal Azurin of PDEA in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao who has
administrative jurisdiction that includes Cotabato City as far as narcotics
issues are concerned, also lauded the mayor and the poll aspirants for the
initiative.
“Let us
make the city drug free, all of us will benefit from it, especially our
children,” Azurin said in a phone interview.
Atty.
Michael Ignes, city election officer, said the move was a very welcome
development as far as poll officials and the coming electoral exercises are
concerned.
He said
the final list of candidates will be known once the Commission on Elections’
legal division in Manila confirms the Certificates of Candidacy filed by more
than 1,000 aspirants here for both barangay and SK polls.
In the
city’s 37 villages, 19 of the candidates for village chairperson are unopposed
while 16 are facing challengers.
Senior
Superitendent Rolly Octavio, city police
director, said the drug test, that turned out to be “negative” for all those
who submitted themselves for testing, was an indication the city is moving in
the right direction. (Edwin Fernandez, PNA
– Cotabato/MINDANAO EXPOSE’)
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