By Glazyl Y. Masculino
BACOLOD City – Two personnel of the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (Nocppo) here tested positive for illegal drugs.
Police Lieutenant Abegael Donasco, Nocppo’s deputy information officer, said that one police officer with a rank of Police Staff Sergeant was from Escalante City Police Station, while the other is a Patrolman assigned to Binalbagan City Police Station.
Donasco said that the random drug testing among the 54 Nocppo personnel from various police stations in the province was conducted on March 17 and 18, 2021 at the provincial police headquarters here.
Both non-commissioned police officers were informed of the result of their drug tests on March 23 and March 24.
Donasco said they were given 15 days to challenge the result of the drug test.
Following this development, both cops were relieved from their units and were reassigned to the Provincial Personnel Holding and Accounting Unit (PPHAU), Donasco said.
They were restricted at the headquarters and were also disarmed, pending the investigation, she added.
A policeman with reconfirmed positive drug test results will face charges for grave misconduct and conduct unbecoming of a police officer and will be dismissed from the police service.
Donasco said that they were the first two policemen in the province that tested positive for drug use this year.
