THERE is no mandate for the mandatory drug testing of students.
“There are no reasons why the University should suspect its students of abusing drugs or why the University should implement such a Draconian measure,”Batas Tomasino, an organization of students from the Faculty of Civil Law, said. “Even the University’s curiosity is neither a valid reason nor a justification for intruding into the privacy of students, disregarding their rights, and subjecting a student to possible criminal liability.”
Batas Tomasino president Errol Comafay told the Varsitarian that “the battle against drugs must always be just.”
Comafay said the University exceeded the mandate of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 issued by the Dangerous Drugs Board, which allows only for random drug testing.
He said that even the random drug testing of students is legally contentious as it violates a student’s right against unreasonable searches and self-incrimination, and the right to due process.
“The measure is seriously arbitrary and unreasonable,” Comafay said. “Just because of the possibility of drug use of some students, everybody should run the risk of being subjected to random drug testing.”
He suggested that the University instead adopt a drug- prevention program.
“A drug prevention program is a more effective deterrence to drug use,” Comafay said. “It is less obtrusive and less expensive than mandatory drug testing.
Comafay clarified that Batas Tomasino is not against programs and policies to check the drug menace.
“What we are concerned about is the unduly intrusive and arbitrary manner that the policy seeks to accomplish its objectives,” he said.
But Acting Rector Fr. Juan Ponce, O.P. said that the mandatory drug testing in the University has legal basis.
“The University received a memorandum order from the Commision on Higher Education allowing us to implement the drug testing procedure in the University,” Ponce told the Varsitarian. “Besides, the University always has the prerogative to accept students with certain conditions.”
Ponce said that the mandatory drug testing is intended to protect the students from drug abusers.
“The aim of this drug testing is not to subject the students to criminal liabilities,” Ponce said. “Our aim is to help the students who were found to be drug dependents and to make the Thomasian community aware that drugs should not be used not only inside but also outside the University.”
Last month, the University announced that all 6,034 freshmen who had undergone mandatory drug testing yielded negative. Leonard James D. Postrado
