‘NO METH HEAD’: Confirmatory drug test clears Iloilo cop

A MEMBER of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO), who earlier tested positive for drug use, could now heave a sigh of relief.

This, as the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) of the Department of Health (DOH) cleared Senior Police Officer 1 Redan Octaviano, based on the confirmatory test.

Octaviano underwent the mandatory confirmatory test after the initial drug test last June 22, 2018 yielded a positive result.

Octaviano submitted himself to drug testing as part of his application for promotion. To his dismay, his urine sample turned positive for purported illegal substance.

But in a press release, the IPPO said, “the same specimen sample was submitted to the NRL-DOH for confirmation but no illegal substance, particularly methamphetamine, was detected based on the method used.”

Almost two months ago, the Police Regional Office (PRO)-6 reported that two policemen were found positive for illegal drug use.

One of them was a Police Officer 3 from Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOPPO) and the other one was Octaviano.

The unnamed PO3 was part of the six NOPPO police officers who were relieved for alleged involvement in illegal activities.

The PO3 underwent drug testing morning of June 24, 2018 and the result was released afternoon of the same day. He admitted to Chief Superintendent John Bulalacao, Western Visayas police chief, that he indeed used shabu.

“Nag-signify na sya na hindi na sya mag-undergo ng second process, which is the confirmatory test,” Bulalacao revealed.

The unnamed officer waived his right to have the second stage of validation.

“He admitted to me personally, in front of his wife and children, that he indeed used illegal drugs. End of story,” Bulalacao said.

Octaviano, on the other hand, challenged the first test result, claiming that he was on medication at that time. His effort paid off after he was cleared in the confirmatory test.

Superintendent Joem Malong, PRO-6 spokesperson, earlier said the drug tests were part of the PNP’s internal cleansing efforts.

The PRO-6 has launched a hotline to accommodate public reports against police scalawagsand reports on incidents pertaining law violation.

Any information can be reported to mobile numbers +63 998 9673 651 and +63 998 5629 523.

Series of drug tests have done in 2017 and earlier this year and it had been sometime since PRO-6 reported that some personnel flunked the tests.

The latest report was in 2016 where six police officers were tested for illegal drug use in the second and third quarters.

Three of the six officers were assigned to Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) and one each in Antique Police Provincial Office (AnPPO), Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO), and the Regional Headquarters Support Group (RHSG) based in the PRO-6 headquarters in Camp Delgado, Iloilo City.

SOURCE: The Daily Guardian