Drug test on all public officials being pushed

MANILA, Philippines – The drug case in Hong Kong involving Ilocos Sur Representative Ronald Singson has prompted his colleagues to call for a drug test on all public officials, saying they should be at the forefront of the campaign against illegal drugs.

Iloilo Representative Niel Tupas Jr. and Marikina Representative Romero Federico Quimbo urged the leadership of the chamber to use “moral suasion” in asking the House members to submit themselves to drug test.

“I favor drug test for lawmakers and all public officers. Government should be role models and should be in the forefront in the campaign against illegal drugs,” Tupas, chairman of the justice committee and vice chairman of the ethics committee said.

Quimbo added that while a mandatory test may be argued as contrary to the Constitution, “the House leadership can exercise moral suasion for all members to voluntarily submit to a drug test. Our people expect its congressmen to be sober and drug-free.”

In November during the celebration of the Drug Abuse Prevention week, only 18 out of the 283 House members submitted themselves to the voluntary drug test organized by the committee on dangerous drugs.

Singson, 42, was arrested at the Hong Kong airport last July after he was found to be allegedly carrying 26 grams of cocaine in his luggage. He is free on bail but cannot leave the Chinese territory.

Singson’s father, Ilocos Sur Governor Luis “Chavit” Singson, had said that his son would plead guilty to the lesser offense of cocaine possession when his trial resumes in Hong Kong on January 26.

This was contrary to a statement by the congressman’s lawyer, John Reading, who was quoted to have said that his client may plead guilty to trafficking charges, after prosecutors refused a plea bargain offer to plead guilty to the lesser charge of drug possession. The prosecution maintained that Ronald Singson was importing the drug into Hong Kong.

Trafficking a dangerous drug carries the maximum penalty of life imprisonment and a fine of HK$5 million ($643,000). Lawmakers said Singson should voluntary resign his post if found guilty by the Hong Kong court, but they added that any such move should come after the court conviction.

“Before the House can take such a serious move of expelling a member of Congress, there should be first a basis for the expulsion and that is the conviction by the court,” Muntinlupa Representative Rodolfo Biazon, member of the ethics committee, said.

Biazon said he is considering filing a resolution to amend the House rules so that there will be no more need for deliberation and voting on a member convicted for a criminal offense.

“He should be expelled automatically,” he added.

Zambales Representative Ma. Milagros Magsaysay said the House is on a wait-and-see attitude on Singson’s case.

“The verdict will determine whether we still need a hearing or not. A guilty verdict will seal Congressman Singson’s fate in the lower House,” she said in a text message.

Quezon City Representative Winston Castelo said Congress should not encourage violation of laws. However, he added that the issue of resignation before the outcome of the trial should be done on a personal basis.

Quimbo said that if found guilty, Singson immediately resign and “spare the rest of the institution from being dragged down for something it has no involvement in.” (report from Lira Dalangin-Fernandez, Inquirer.net)