NUPL , CHR,  condemns House-to-house drug testing

Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and National Union of People’s Lawyers slammed the Philippine National Police’S (PNP) house-to-house drug testing in the shanty areas of Quezon City.

CHR Chairman Chito Gascon stated: “From a human rights perspective, there is a violation of the presumption of innocence. The policy should be considered for further study before being fully implemented.”

He added “It is a kind of intervention that, when properly applied, might be useful. Our worry is when someone tests positive; they would be included in the drug list and might be later killed.”

Furthermore, NUPL questioned whether house to house drug testing will also be applied in condominiums and gated subdivisions as he sees that it is only happening in slum areas.

He added that result of this drug testing is unreliable and “legally useless” as these were taken by non-experts and without counsel.

Republic Act 9165 or the Dangerous Drugs Acts specifies that drug tests must be done by “government forensic laboratories or by any of the drug testing laboratories accredited and monitored by the DOH to safeguard the quality of test results.”

(DAILY NEWS ROUND UP FOR 08 / 26 / 17)