Salonga Center volunteers participate in
SU Guidance and Testing Center
Random Drug Test Orientation
January 13, 2010

To prepare the students for the mandatory random drug testing on February and March, the Silliman Guidance and Testing Center is currently conducting Orientation and Information Dissemination to all its College students with regard to the process of screening and the handling of results.

The Guidance Center partners with the Salonga Center for Law and Development to properly inform the students of the drug testing process. Volunteer students of the Salonga Center are present in each Orientation to explain the legal aspects of the law and the Board Resolution and to answer the inquiries of the students regarding the legal implications of the drug tests.

Hera Tocmo, one of the Guidance Counselors of Silliman University, emphasized in one of the Orientation Programs that the primary purpose of the mandatory random drug tests for secondary and tertiary students, as mandated by the Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education, is for “health purposes only” and not for any legal sanction. She said that the Memorandum aims to promote awareness of the risks of illegal drug use and to help possible users overcome their addiction.

The Mandatory Random Drug Testing will be conducted in Silliman University in the months of February and March. The Guidance and Testing Center reiterated that the results will be kept confidential between the students, the parents, and the school. Results of such mandatory drug tests can not be used for disciplinary actions or legal actions, Tocmo explained.

Should the student be found positive for illegal drugs, he/she will undergo a case conference with a school representative and the parent. A rehabilitation program will be designed by the Department of Health (DOH) for the approval of the student and the parents. Minors will be referred to the Social Welfare Department for possible intervention methods.

Ma. Zusabel R. Digaum, a Salonga Center volunteer and a College of Law senior, said that as per the Board Resolution, the results of the mandatory random drug tests have different effects, as compared to when a student is apprehended or “caught in the act” in the use or possession of illegal drugs.

The Orientation per College is set to run until all the Tuesdays and Thursdays of January at 10am.