 Good day, dear viewers. Good day, Dr. Lilly. We welcome all of you to this episode of Kalusugan Ay Karapatan, keeping the university safe and healthy. Safety covers mental health, gender sensitivity, nutrition, buildings and structures, roads. But for this particular episode, we are going to talk about drugs cleaning program in the universities, creating safe and healthy spaces. Good day to all viewers of Kalusugan Ay Karapatan. Yes, Chancellor Menchit. The topic is so interesting since we are both in the academy and at the same time, health professionals. Just like our audience, we too are interested to know the provisions of the law and its effects on our students. Dr. Lilly, there is one policy that is controversial and that is the random drug testing mandated of tertiary schools. Many think that this is a problematic measure, but others believe it is beneficial. Where do we stand? Let us hear from our experts and resource persons. Dr. Menchit, please give me the honor to introduce our resource person because she is a colleague of mine from the Commission on Higher Education, CHED. She serves as officer-in-charge of the Office of the Executive Director. Currently, the director of the legal and legislative service. She chairs and heads various offices, foremost among which is the task force on the strengthening of the enforcement powers of the CHED on non-compliant academic programs and course offerings. She obtained her BA in public administration from the University of the Philippines and her bachelor of laws from the New Era University. She was a faculty member, college of law, and college of business education and administration at the New Era University where she was a faculty member of the Colleges of Law Business Education and Administration. As a lawyer, she provided legal counsel to various institutions. Among these are Haro and Haro Law Office, PDP Laban Kayatano Legal Team, the City of Emus Cavite, Securities and Exchange Commission in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. I am pleased to present to our viewers my co-worker in government, attorney Cinderella Filipina Benitez Haro. Our second resource person is a faculty member of UP Dilliman and the present Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs of the UP System. He is a social development practitioner and has been part of initiatives to design support programs for students in UP. He was one of the resource persons who formulated the action plan to transform the university into a healthy and nurturing academic organization. He is also a member of the UP Technical Working Group to promote gender equality and gender sensitivity among students. At the national level, he offers technical assistance to the Unified Financial Assistance Tertiary Education or UNIFAST Secretariat in crafting policies on financial and other support programs for undergraduate students. He also assists the Commission on Higher Education on the enhancement of development programs for Filipino faculty members pursuing advanced studies. Dear viewers, let us please welcome to the program Professor Richard Philip Gonzalo. Our last resource person is a lecturer at the College of Law University of the Philippines. She graduated from the College of Mass Communication also from the University of the Philippines with a bachelor's degree in journalism where she was cum laude. She obtained her master's in law from the Queen of Mary University of London where she specialized in computer and communications law. For more than 17 years now, she has been a partner at the Yorak Sarmiento, Arroyo Chua Coronel and Reyes Law Office. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome attorney Sandra Olaza Coronel. May I ask the first question? I'd like to address this now to our resource persons. Maybe we can start with the law and looking at the provisions of the law that mandates the mandatory drug testing. The Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 requires all tertiary schools to conduct a random drug test of their students. This presupposes that there is consent on the part of the parents but the consent is usually given at the time of enrollment. So the university is required to put in its handbook the policy on how to conduct this random drug testing of their students. When you say the consent of the parents, can you explain, can you elaborate the part about the consent? When a student enrolls in a particular tertiary school, part of the enrollment process requires their consent to mandatory, to random drug testing because the law requires universities to secure this consent, meaning if a student or a parent refuses to consent to the random drug testing, then the university has a right to refuse enrollment. But that is because the testing should be confidential and the testing should be scientific. So the law also provides for the means and the mechanism for the conduct of the drug testing. So I want to pose the question now to Atarani Cinderella because since this is mandated on tertiary schools, can you give us an idea whether this is being implemented in both private and public schools? So pursuant to the law which mandates higher education institutions to provide a drug testing among tertiary students, the commission has issued our CMO or guidelines on how to conduct drug testing. One of the provisions of that law is that of course the higher education institutions should have a random drug testing and they are also not precluded from enforcing a mandatory drug testing. So as of now po, we have issued that last November 2018 and our CMO covers all private and private higher educational institutions. So to answer ma'am your question all higher educational institutions now are mandated from having the random drug testing. But how many are following or implementing this random test? We are because po we have just issued that last November 2018 but before paraman po na issue namin itong CMO namin some private higher education institutions are also are already enforcing that mandatory random drug testing and some are even enforcing that the mandatory drug testing. But suma SUCs po natin they are in the process na of enforcing the random drug testing. May I know who's funding this random testing? Sa random drug testing in the case of state universities and colleges it should be the government and sabi po suma tas it should be the government which should bear the cost or expenses for the random drug testing if the SUCs or the HCI's are doing this under our CMO. So we are coordinating with the Department of with the Department of Health on how to proceed with the expenses as to the random drug testing. So do we have a number more or less right now? Nang Implement yung nag-implement po. Ay nag-implement po. I think sumo sa private HCI's po namin siguro mga mo'y the mga less than 50% pa nag-implement ng random drug testing. Sa mga SUCs na sa stage pa lang po sila kasi yung nang since mayarong pang issue as to the expenses as to the cost of the random drug testing. So I understand that not all state universities and colleges are enforcing for this academic year a random drug testing. But we are mandating them but we should have a plan na on how to proceed with the random drug testing. My next question is how is it being received by the schools and then the parents? To be transparent when we issue our first CMO itong mandatory random drug testing there has been talagang resistance resistance opposition to it. But we have nangapan consultation na din and with our stakeholders specifically our private higher education institutions and the students naging maganda nang ang reception ng aming CMO. One, because we are following what is mandated by the law and we are also trying to understand the perspective of the students. Assistant Vice President Richard Nansalo of the University of the Philippines UP is not directly underchead and therefore UP has its own understanding of this law. Is this good or bad? What is it for? What do you think so? Well, there are reservations when it comes to implementing the drug screening for students. For one, it should be very clear how will it complement the programs of the university as far as ensuring the safety and welfare of the students. At present, it's very difficult to detach the situation of an identified user from the stigma that a student may probably be a drug addict and the connotation and basically the behavior attached to the label of being positive as far as drug abuse is concerned. So the first thing that basically has to be ensured is that we need to come up with a drug screening policy that is consistent with what the university should what university values should it uphold. So if we're going to contextualize the program as part of basically understanding what's the landscape or what kind of behavior or the type of help that students may that can be given to students then probably the program will be well accepted. But right now this has to be formulated and I think changes need to be done to ensure first of all that information about the student will be confidential and if they are to be identified as such then they are given the protection to basically and that they can seek help should they need it as a student and basically as a citizen of the country. So I follow up Yes, ma'am. Within the University of the Philippines environment where academic freedom is what we call students assert academic freedom faculty members assert academic freedom how much of this is really helping the students see the importance of this program among the student population. Well for now the university is actually a venue to exercise these values so more or less you can say that the personnel, the staff, the faculty members and the students are critical of these kinds of policies in the context of the university. That's why if you're going to have to promote this mandatory drug screening for SUCs and higher education institutions it should be contextualized in a larger, more beneficial framework that will ensure the health and safety of our students. Right now I think it's timely to look at this program against the capacity of our student affairs to handle these cases. Of course this has been going on for some time but I think with some information and basically nuancing of the program in the context of insuring to the development we could basically come up with programs programs that will be beneficial especially for those who were identified as positive in the drug screening process. So is this implemented in the University of the Philippines eight campuses? I think I have to check first if it's implemented in all campuses but again there are campuses that have reservations when it comes to implementing it because of the safety component first has to be ensured. Fear of what? Is there such a feeling of being identified? Is there a stigma attached to this screening? Yes. As far as the student opinion is concerned? Yes. At least for some students when we talk about when you are identified as positive for drug use there's a stigma that probably you may be going through something you are a problematic student you have problems we have to address that stigma first because that prevents the student from seeking help and basically that also endangers the University community because it opens the community to cases that we may not see because the students cannot approach anyone whom they consider as safe for help when it comes to drug dependence. So how do you plan to work on this removal of this stigma? I mean what sort of activities or programs that you have in mind? For now we still do not have plans, concrete plans on how this needs to be addressed. It should be approached from from a different perspective. It's often treated as as a drug problem because some of the killings associated with it are associated to the drug users. That's the stigma and we have to deal with that first because not user, not all users are actually going through that. There are occasional users, there are recreational users but their values are still intact. But some would be seeking help to be able to address this dependence on these substances and some are actually doing well and can decide freely on how are they going to deal with this kind of situation. So I think we have to investigate further on and use probably a different perspective on how this problem or if it's really a problem should be addressed. I want to go back to the comment of Atornis Cinderella because she said that at the beginning there was some resistance and they you know they eventually they followed. I think we should learn from how they handled the situation and so that we can modify this for the university. There are different approaches to handling this is drug supposed drug problem. Some would advocate for drug rehabilitation centers. Basically have institutions and personnel who can assist those who are highly dependent on these illicit substances. But that only captures those who are referred to these institutions and when they go out to the university they no longer have these institutions who will support them. There's another philosophy behind it which is basically geared towards harm reduction but it's more on it's more aligned with creating these spaces providing the information so that responsible use and basically support can be given for those who seek support from dependence in these illicit substances. So there are ways on how to handle it but we have to look at what will be the more appropriate way as far as implementing it in the university context. Ator na ikaw na nila my impression is that we have no choice. And are there provisions in the law or the implementing rules and regulations on how this can be pushed forward? Okay. I just want to clarify that the mandatory nature of the drug testing is an imposition on the university and not on the student. Meaning as far as every student is concerned they cannot be subjected to mandatory the law does not require that they be mandatorily tested because what the law requires is that the university conduct a random drug test. The law being a policy will need to be threshed out in detail and that is left to the university. So for example in every university the law allows the administration to be the one to craft how the policy will be implemented including providing how exactly random testing is to be done. There is a scientific manner by which testing can be done and as academics I'm sure there is somebody in the university who can craft a mechanism to ensure that this is really random and therefore the results from the testing will be scientifically validatable. The second is what does the university intend to do with the results? So again it is left to the university how it can create programs or points of action to address the results of the testing. I suppose the resistance is because there was a misconception about the testing being mandatory on every student. The law requires the universities to conduct it but leaves to the university the manner by which it shall be done including how it will for example address issues of security data privacy also where to refer those who test positive because not every university will have a facility a program that is already available. I suppose some bigger university will be able to create their own program will have the manpower will have the resources but as mentioned by Atarisi Derella not all SUCs will even have the funding for the test itself so that is a basic issue of how the test is to be conducted but because certainly there is a cost to this testing and then how to deal with what is another issue what will the university do with the result and on an academic level what is the kind of program that can be developed to address the result it cannot end in the testing the value of this law should be for us to address well first to determine if there is a problem is this a real problem I think is the first thing to determine now because if there is no problem then this law has nothing to do there is no basis for it but if there is a genuine problem then we need to address and at what levels and what are the programs if the university for example cannot afford to create its own program is there a government agency or some other agency address to whom the solution is solicited because certainly the situation is not university wide only this is the drug is a societal issue and therefore as mentioned when they go to their homes there is a different environment altogether and if we create safe zones in the university but the government forgets to create at least try to mimic safe zones in their homes then that's another problem that we are building up to not to be addressed so what is important is that this law is policy and we have to see how we can flesh this out without trampling on the sensitivities of some the rights claimed by others because it is there we have to deal with this law I guess every other issue on the implementation is something that we have to sit down on and just work on in detail so you are right we need the numbers so I want to ask attorney Cinderella again do we have any baseline numbers before you implemented this in the private and public schools? At the onset I would like to emphasize that when we implemented or when we issued or CM or the guidelines on the mandatory random drug testing our overarching policy is to have a safe safety and health land among all universities and colleges so that is our goal or purpose and the mandatory random drug testing or screening is just one of the measures in order to have that goal you are asking about the baseline on the numbers of HCI's affected but it would be very hard to capture it in a general sense because not all universities have the same problems they have different problems also as to the drug dependency of the students so we can say in general that this is not just a problem of the university itself but it is actually a societal problem also because we know that drug dependency is a problem in the Philippines also but as I've said since this is a societal problem then the universities in the context of education must help in preventing or solving that problem Attorney Cindy from the point of view of the commission on higher education we know very well that there are students who are really dependent on drug what brings about this dependency is the drug available inside the university campus other students also pedaling drugs who could be responsible is this drug dependency in our universities highly endemic is it a problem? As I've said the drug problem is different in every university some universities may just have a problem of drug use other universities or colleges may have a problem of drug well we have to admit of drug pushing also so we have to address this problem because even if if it's just just a small number which is affected it also affects the whole university even if let's say if just a small number of students who are using drugs at a certain university it also affects not just the students not just that student but also the other students in that university so we really have to address that problem or that scenario or situation I'd like to think that this screening is really part of one of the measures to solve a bigger problem so we have a drug problem in the country we all know that the screening is one measure that we're trying to put in place I'd like to believe also that without the numbers it's going to be difficult for me to come up with specific programs or policies so I really hope that the data that's generated from this mandated screening will feed into an agency for us to come up with this possible solutions so my question now is that the data that's generated by the participating HEIs where does the data go? As I've said ma'am we have only issue at RCM or last November 2018 but where will it go? It will go to the commission the aesthetics or the numbers it will go to the commission at higher education for us to craft or to improve our policy if in case there are some issues that we have to address also that we were not able to address in our guidelines so all the aesthetics of the universities will eventually as a regulatory body will go to the commission at higher education and then we will have a general repository of such data information and then we will try to analyze the same to determine on how to improve our policy also and then do we have a timeline for this implementation and probably coming up with the data come year 2020 all universities should have a consultation on a drug policy or drug policy of each university so by next year my next academic year specifically February 2020 all universities should have a consultations on the drug policies that they should have I just happened to attend an event yesterday that specifically addressed actually the it was actually a launch on the drug research laboratory and there were two points that were based one document said that we have about 1.8 million users then was another document saying that we have about at one point in their life they used it about 4 million so I just want to emphasize the point that it's really a spectrum because I think you know there are really some or just maybe a single user and then there are some who may be drug dependent and then eventually label this and then you have the drug pusher so if I look at the whole situation now we are now looking at the commission higher education probably the department of education to take a look at programs that will actually capture these concerns because I totally agree you know yesterday we were discussing this and we were saying that getting them at college may be too late so we actually look forward to this data that will be generated by the CMO that was issued by CHED because I am looking for a safer 2021 for the students so now I'm going to throw the question now to AVP Richard because it seems like by 2020 we will be expected to come up with our own program also in the university are we ready for that? Well for now we will be doing certain initiatives on how to go about this drug issue drug problem but again our main concern first we understand that data is actually important to inform the development of the program the first concern was actually if we gather data how do we ensure that the identity of the students the confidentiality will be ensured that's the major concern because there are basically labels attached if you are identified as a drug user so that's the first thing that we need to content with and then second is actually when we gather this data probably it has to be clear on the part of the university what will be the policy or the approach in developing the drug program for those identified as drug users as I said a while ago there are different approaches to it you can either have a center within the university or basically try to come up with policies and programs that can influence the social conditions surrounding drug use so that has to be settled so that the gathering of the screening of students will be let's just say safer and can provide us with the data that can be used in order to formulate and firm up all of these programs I would understand Shed would be using this data I'm interested in our data in the university so I really want to really put you on the spot now and share with the viewers because they would like to know what will be the framework or the timeline for the implementation of the adoption of this law so as far as the number is concerned it's very difficult to come up with the numbers anecdotal data however we can come up with accounts on what drug use is the present generation but the question is now what will be your timeline what will be our timeline for the adoption of this law probably give us give or take one or two years because we need that data we need that data first but it's a chicken and egg if you don't do your random random testing you will never get the data I mean really if you look at what Chad is actually telling us you've got to implement this so that we can get the initial data that will actually go on to the next set of programs so we have to settle which channel which philosophy are we going to basically promote in the drug program of the university first because these are two contending issues both actually there are accounts on how are these being implemented outside and there are consequences of promoting these kinds of philosophies so that's something that needs to be settled among the student affairs personnel and even to the colleges so basically the first year would likely be to understand what are we going to what values or what approach are we going to promote before we can come up with that drug screening program because we're talking about lives of students once we screen the students again they will be exposing themselves to the possible risk of being tagged as a drug addict drug user or a drug pusher so safety is the first concern before we can even finalize the drug screening program I want to pass on this question to Attorney Coronel because I understand exactly where you're coming from but now that I'm understanding also the law I want to make sure that we are abiding by the law so can you guide us on how the university can proceed I just need to underscore the fact that the random drug test only gives a result of drug use it does not give you the range of is this a one-time user or a repeat user or a drug addict what is the extent of the addiction it's just a use so what it actually measures or should measure is the penetration random at this point in time in the university this is the penetration of use so maybe that is a first step to disabuse the minds of our students and our community that the test itself is a condemnation that they are a drug user or anything because this just provides us a baseline of use how we will use this data will be dependent on a program that the university itself will craft so to even cross over from user to what is the extent is this an addiction is something that the university has free reign to administer at the same time if it does not even go in the first step of knowing if there is a problem is a challenge because then we will never be able to take the second step of okay so if we have a penetration rate of this much then what are the programs that we need to build on the issue of confidentiality I think that is the challenge to the university because confidentiality of the process is entirely within within the control of the university you are the ones who will come up with a program of how to make a random test how randomness is to be measured who are the students who will be covered by this random test and who will have access to the data you know even what is the information that will be required of the student you know at the time if this student is asked to be covered by the random test it is up to the university to require you will require a name a student number or just gender or just a random I am specimen number 2 I am specimen number 3 meaning that the wide range of anonymity that can be placed on the test results is all within the control of the university and I think from the learnings of the resistance is there but eventually we will have to admit that we will never be able to resolve a problem unless we know that it's there and this is what what the law is asking us to do to take a first step to determine so that we know exactly how to address because as I said the test does not cover anything beyond use so you can test positive because you used once you can test positive because you're an addict you can test positive but note again that those who are peddlers but not users will not test positive so that is still another issue that needs to be looked at by the school so attorney Cindy and Bernie Coronel and ABP Richard given the law the law is the law the state has certain obligation to the Filipinos everyone and if health is a matter of right that is the overall thinking of the government on how to protect the students and others considering that the student is found positive the student could be at risk inside the university and I think that is where the university is coming from is also to protect those who are mingling with our students who are found positive so what would be the basic requisites to make sure that the if I am a parent I like to be assured child my daughter my son entering the University of the Philippines or any tertiary education the university is a safe environment what would be neither to make sure that drug testing is really in place and it is very useful okay so um for the University of the Philippines again I have to cite that the university can develop the drug program and basically influence the screening process because we can identify who are actually the users but the circumstances surrounding okay the social circumstances surrounding the user has to be identified as well because the program has to address the circumstances and not just the the drug use so in order to address the problem again that has to be ensured from this data that we're going to gather now at least the university is implementing has its data privacy policies in place to ensure that should a student submit to the screening program they will be protected confidentiality will be ensured for these students but for when they also test positive again there will be additional information that will be obtained from the students that will now be dependent or contingent on what philosophy will be promoted by the university as a drug program for now that drug program has to be finalized first because that will influence the amount of data or the type of data that will be gathered during the drug screening process it's very important because we have to deal with this human development social development issue as well it's not just about drug use but it has something to do with the choices or the circumstances that may be that doesn't only concern the university but basically the household or the community where the student resides in so it's very important so data privacy policy programs will be developed first but the amount of information will have to be determined by the kind of program that we would like to establish I think we have substantially covered the various issues and angles of this mandatory drug testing in school may we now ask our resource persons to give their final words to our viewers attorney well as far as I am concerned I would like to think that there is wisdom in this policy yes the risks are high but what I see in the law is that it has taken some safety measures also into consideration and I am more afraid of us not recognizing that there is a problem than us saying well it will be problematic to implement I am so happy that there are at least 50% of the tertiary universities who have tried to implement and I'd like to learn from the results because Congress will need this input to see if the comprehensive drug law addresses our issues all our state policies will all have to be catered based on information and if we do not have the information then this is what's happening we will have policemen barging into the homes because they don't know what information is real and what information is just given to them so if we provide them with statistics with genuine information based on facts based on scientific surveys then we will probably be able to cater to a better policy we will have a better program in the implementation on a national scale and I guess it's something that we need to help government do because the government needs the input otherwise as I said the solution is a police state that's the solution because the government doesn't know how to deal with the drug problem and so it will call on the military and the police to solve what is not probably a problem is lawlessness if this is a genuine societal problem it's a medical problem whatever this problem is we need to find a real solution and I think this is a first step and it's important first to recognize that there's a problem thank you attorney so we understand that we understand that drug screening is a first step to gather the information about our drug problem and the magnitude of the use and dependence on illicit drugs from the student affairs point of view we have to frame this drug screening process as part of a more bigger comprehensive program we are not just ensuring the safety of the community university community but in implementing the programs we would also like to ensure the safety of the individual going through the process so it's paramount to ensure not only the general safety and wellness but also the individual well-being, safety and basically the rights of the student going through the process that's why we are very critical of the screening process but we recognize that this is to understand better it's an opportunity to make sense of what the drug problem is in the university in society that's why we have to take these measures in a manner that also ensures the safety and health of the individuals going through the process that's very well said that's ensuring that also safe from harm identified and those people around the students that well said attorneys in the RELLA goals shed are one, prevention and second, ensuring that there are programs or measures undertaken by higher education and institutions for those who are identity or for those who are tested as positive having said that we have laid down several steps several programs or measures to do this we will be collaborating with the DBB dangerous drugs board in order to have in order to assist our higher education institutions to have a health plan of its own and we are also mandating our higher education institutions to have a drug free committee so that they will be able to improve our policy our system to somehow have a system of their own and how to to follow our CMO and our law with one goal or with one overarching policy which is to have a safe and healthy universities and colleges we are grateful to all our resource speakers for sharing their ideas thank you attorney Cinderella attorney Coronel AVP Richard for sharing this afternoon with all of us health is a matter of right it is the obligation of the university to keep every student and every member of the community safe from harm to our viewers thank you for watching and please watch more episodes of KK Kalusugan ay karapatan mabuhay ang kalusugan ay karapatan