August 17, 2016

PNP MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 057-16

PRESCRIBING GUIDELINES IN THE CONDUCT OF RANDOM/MANDATORY DRUG TEST IN THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL POLICE AND PROVIDING DISCIPLINARY AND ADMINISTRATIVE SANCTIONS FOR VIOLATION THEREOF

1. References:

a. Republic Act (RA) No. 6975, as amended by RA No. 8551;

b. RA No. 9165, otherwise known as the "Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002" and its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR);

c. Office of the President of the Philippines, Memorandum Circular No. 89, dated December 17, 2015, entitled: "Implementation of the National Anti-Drug Plan of Action";

d. NAPOLCOM Memorandum Circular No. 99-008, entitled: "Requiring the Administration of Drug Test on All PNP Uniformed Personnel and Imposing Penalties Thereof";

e. NAPOLCOM Memorandum Circular No. 2016-002, entitled: "Revised Rules of Procedure Before the Administrative Disciplinary Authorities and the Internal Affairs Service of the Philippine National Police";

f. Civil Service Commission (CSC) Resolution No. 101359 dated July 6, 2010, with reference to CSC Memorandum Circular No. 13, Series of 2010 Subject: "Guidelines for a Drug-Free Workplace in the Bureaucracy";

g. CSC Resolution No. 1101502 dated November 8, 2011 entitled: "Revised Rules on Administrative Cases in the Civil Service (RRACCS)";

h. Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) Regulation No. 2, Series of 2004 entitled: "Guidelines for the Formulation and Implementation of a Drug-Free Workplace Program and the Conduct of Authorized Drug Testing by All Offices, Bureaus and Agencies of the National and Local Governments, Government Owned and Controlled Corporations and Other Institutes of Learning including State Colleges and Universities";and

i. DDB Regulation No. 7, Series of 2003, as amended by DDB Regulation No. 4, Series of 2013, entitled "General Guidelines for the Implementation of Mandatory Drug Testing to Officers and Members of the Military, Police and Other Law Enforcement Agencies." CTIEac

2. Scope and Purpose:

This Memorandum Circular (MC) applies to all PNP personnel, both uniformed and non-uniformed. It aims to provide policies and procedures in the conduct of drug test in line with the State policy to promote a high standard of ethics in the public service. Consistent with time honored principle that "public office is a public trust," public officials and employees shall at all times be accountable to the people and shall discharge their duties with utmost responsibility, integrity, competence and loyalty, act with patriotism and justice, lead modest lives, and uphold public interest over personal interest. Thus, PNP personnel as public officials and employees, must at all times be free from using dangerous drugs.

This MC seeks to implement within the PNP, the National Anti-Drug Plan of Action which outlines the efforts of the government to strengthen its campaign against dangerous drugs by conducting authorized drug testing among its personnel pursuant to Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) Regulations No. 2, Series of 2004; and DDB Regulation No. 7, Series of 2003, as amended by DDB Regulation No. 4, Series of 2013.

It also intends to provide clear administrative policy for violations thereof.

3. Definition of Terms:

a. Authorized Drug Test — refers to the examination of a person's urine specimen to determine the presence of dangerous drugs which is done by the PNP Crime Laboratory or by any drug testing laboratories accredited and monitored by the Department of Health (DOH) to safeguard the quality of test results. It shall employ among others, two (2) testing methods, the screening and confirmatory tests.

b. Conduct Unbecoming of a Police Officer — refers to "any act or behavior of a police officer, irrespective of rank, done on his official or private capacity which, in dishonoring or disgracing himself as a police officer, seriously compromises his character and standing in the PNP in such a manner as to indicate vitiated or corrupt state of moral character which shows his unworthiness to remain in the police service." 1

c. Confirmatory Test — an analytical test using a device tool or equipment with different chemical or physical principle that is more specific which will validate and confirm the result of the screening test. It refers to the second or further analytical procedure to more accurately determine the presence of dangerous drugs in a specimen. 2

d. Mandatory Drug Test — refers to the compulsory submission of PNP personnel for drug testing as required by Section 36 (e) of RA No. 9165 and other PNP Rules and Regulations.

e. Random Drug Test — refers to the test performed on PNP personnel who are selected following no specific pattern and without prior notice.

f. Retirement — refers to the mode of termination of service either because of reaching a compulsory age or upon voluntary application by virtue of accumulating at least twenty years of satisfactory active service which application needs approval of the NAPOLCOM.

g. Separation from the Service — The severance of service of a PNP member thru any of the following modes:

1) Termination — when a PNP member fails to satisfactorily complete or pass within a given period the requirements laid down to attain a certain status.

2) Attrition — a mode of separation done when a PNP uniformed personnel fails to meet the required standards of the PNP i.e., educational and weight standards, the grounds enumerated under NMC 2008-005 and such other causes that do not involve willful violation of the norms of conduct, rules, the law and the constitution which will entitle a PNP uniformed personnel to benefits according to what the personnel has earned.

3) Dismissal — mode of separation applied to a PNP uniformed personnel regardless of rank who failed to possess any of the continuing qualifications by virtue of a willful violation of the norms of the rules and/or existing laws and/or the Constitution. Separation is based on the application of existing administrative disciplinary mechanisms, subject to due process of law. Conviction upon a charge carries with it forfeiture of all the benefits, eligibilities; and perpetual disqualification to hold public office.

h. Screening Test — A rapid test performed to establish a potential/presumptive positive result. It refers to the immunoassay test to eliminate a "negative" specimen, i.e.,one without the presence of dangerous drugs, from further consideration and to identify the presumptively positive specimen that requires confirmatory test. 3

i. Use of Dangerous Drugs — Any act of injecting, intravenously or intramuscularly, or consuming, either by chewing, smoking, sniffing, eating, swallowing, drinking or otherwise introducing into the physiological system of the body any of the dangerous drugs. 4

4. Policies:

a. All Uniformed and Non-Uniformed Personnel of the PNP shall be subjected to annual mandatory drug testing. The selection of the personnel shall be done on a random basis but no personnel must be exempt from the annual mandatory drug testing.

b. PNP personnel (Uniformed and Non-Uniformed) shall also be subjected to a RANDOM drug test where the PNP personnel are selected by chance or in an unplanned way.

c. In accordance with Section 36 of RA No. 9165, a drug testing shall employ, among others, two (2) testing methods, the screening test which will determine the positive result as well as the type of the drug used and the confirmatory test which will confirm a positive screening test. SaCIDT

d. Pursuant to NAPOLCOM Memorandum Circular No. 99-008, any PNP member found positive of using dangerous drugs shall be separated or dismissed from the service after notice and summary hearing.

e. Any PNP member who, without any justifiable reason, refuses or fails to submit to a drug test when officially required shall be charged administratively and after notice and summary hearing, shall be penalized accordingly.

f. Laboratory reports of positive results of the screening test and/or confirmatory test shall be treated with confidentiality and shall be disclosed in accordance with PNP internal rules and regulations.

g. If confirmed positive after confirmatory test, the same shall be "prima facie" evidence that such person has used dangerous drugs, which is without prejudice to the prosecution for other violations of the provisions of RA No. 9165.

5. Procedures:

a. Procedures in the conduct of drug testing:

1) The conduct of drug testing shall be initiated by a concerned PNP Office thru a written request addressed to PNP Crime Laboratory;

2) For purposes of identification, the PNP personnel shall present his/her PNP ID. The subject PNP personnel shall fill up and sign the consent and chain of custody form issued to them. PNP personnel who is taking medications during and/or prior to the conduct of drug test shall declare the same to the PNP Crime Laboratory personnel facilitating the drug test;

3) The authorized specimen collector will then ask the subject PNP personnel to remove any unnecessary outer garments such as coat or jacket that might conceal items or substances that could be used to tamper with or adulterate the subject personnel's urine specimen. The authorized specimen collector will ensure that all personal belongings such as purse or briefcase remain with the outer garments;

4) The taking of the urine sample shall be done in the presence of the authorized specimen collector and must be done in an area where there is no access to any unregulated source of water, soap, dispenser, cleaning agent, or any other materials that could be used to adulterate the specimen;

5) The authorized specimen collector will give the subject PNP personnel a clean specimen container. The subject PNP personnel may provide his/her specimen in a privacy of a toilet cubicle or otherwise partitioned area that allows for individual privacy;

6) Upon receiving the specimen from the subject PNP personnel, the authorized specimen collector will:

a) Check the volume of the urine in the specimen container;

b) Check the temperature of the urine specimen; and

c) Inspect the specimen to determine its color and appearance for any signs of contaminants. Any unusual findings will be noted on the chain of custody form.

7) Both subject PNP personnel and authorized specimen collector will keep the specimen container "in view" at all times prior to the sealing and labeling of the urine specimen;

8) The urine specimen container will have an identification label that contains the pertinent information such as date and time of specimen collection, signature of the subject personnel and specimen ID number,

9) No further action is needed when the result is negative in the Screening Test;

10) The urine specimen/sample which tested positive after the screening test must be properly labeled and must be kept separately from the samples that tested negative for dangerous drugs;

11) All urine samples that tested positive must be submitted for confirmatory testing using the same urine sample; and

12) After the confirmatory test, the same urine sample must be kept for the purpose of challenging the result.

b. Treatment of Drug Test Results:

1) The PNP personnel with a positive result, after a CONFIRMATORY Test, shall immediately be reported to the Head of the requesting office. The same result must be signed by the authorized signatory from the PNP Crime Laboratory Officer concerned and a witness;

2) After receipt of the drug test result by the requesting office, it shall send a written notice to the personnel who tested positive, who may challenge such test result within fifteen (15) days from receipt thereof, by signifying in writing his/her intention to challenge the test results to the requesting office;

3) The submission or endorsement of the urine sample to the chosen laboratory shall be made within fifteen (15) days from receipt of the written request to challenge;

4) The choice of laboratory that will conduct the challenge test shall be specified by the PNP personnel challenging the result. The challenge test may be conducted by any drug testing laboratories accredited and monitored by the Department of Health (DOH) or by the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) provided that said laboratory has Gas Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer (GCMS) or High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometer (HPLC-MS) equipment or other similar equipment to ensure a result that is free from human intervention, and, provided further that, the same specimen submitted for random/mandatory test on which the PNP personnel was found positive for the use of dangerous drugs shall be brought personally by the examiner-on-case of the PNP Crime Laboratory and the personnel who requested. Payment of the Challenge Test shall be at the expense of the Challenging Party; and cHECAS

5) Results of the challenged tests shall not be subject to cut-off concentration levels that were established from the same tested confirmed specimen. Results of the challenge test shall be the basis for the final determination of the drug test result.

c. Filing of Administrative Case:

1) The PNP personnel with a positive result after the final determination through a Challenge Test shall be endorsed by the Requesting Unit for the conduct of Pre-Charge Investigation in accordance with the provisions of NAPOLCOM Memorandum Circular No. 2016-002;

2) The same rule applies to PNP personnel who failed to challenge the result of the Confirmatory Test after fifteen (15) days from his/her receipt of such notice; and

3) The PNP personnel found positive for the use of dangerous drugs may be placed under preventive suspension for a period not exceeding ninety (90) days in accordance with Rule 16 of NAPOLCOM Memorandum Circular No. 2016-002, if circumstances warrant, after formal filing of administrative case.

6. Disciplinary or Administrative Sanctions:

a. Any PNP personnel found violating any of the provisions of RA No. 9165 shall be dealt with criminally pursuant to RA No. 9165 and administratively pursuant to NAPOLCOM Memorandum Circular No. 2016-002 or RRACCS;

b. Any act of misrepresentation or attempt to commit misrepresentation in the collection of urine samples shall constitute the administrative offense of Grave Dishonesty as defined and penalized under NAPOLCOM Memorandum Circular No. 2016-002. If subject is a Non Uniformed Personnel (NUP), he/shall be administratively charged with Serious Dishonesty as provided for under the RRACCS;

c. A positive result for dangerous drugs use, after a confirmatory test, shall constitute prima facie evidence for the administrative offense of Conduct Unbecoming of a Police Officer for PNP uniformed Personnel as defined and penalized under NAPOLCOM Memorandum Circular No. 2016-002. If subject is a Non Uniformed Personnel (NUP), he/shall be administratively charged with Grave Misconduct as provided for under the RRACCS;

d. Any PNP personnel who, without any valid reason, failed to submit himself/herself for random/mandatory drug test, will be administratively charged with Insubordination (for Uniformed Personnel) or Grave Misconduct (for NUP) in accordance with NAPOLCOM Memorandum Circular No. 2016-002 or RRACCS, respectively; and

e. Government officials, employees and/or any personnel who intentionally or unintentionally breached the confidentiality of any drug test result shall be criminally charged in accordance with Section 72 of RA No. 9165 and administratively pursuant to NAPOLCOM Memorandum Circular No. 2016-002 or RRACCS.

7. Separability Clause:

If any part or provision of this MC is held unconstitutional or invalid, the other provisions shall not be affected.

8. Rescission:

All previous PNP issuances and/or circulars inconsistent with the provisions of this MC are deemed repealed or amended.

9. Effectivity:

This MC shall take effect after 15 days from filing a copy thereof at the UP Law Center in consonance with Section 3, Chapter 2, Book VII of Executive Order 292 otherwise known as the "Revised Administrative Code of 1987," as amended.

 

(SGD.) RONALD M. DELA ROSAPolice Director General

Footnotes

1. As defined in NAPOLCOM Memorandum Circular No. 2016-002.

2. As defined in DDB Regulation No. 7, Series of 2003.

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.