Pubdate: Tue, 01 Jul 2003 Source: Sun.Star Baguio (Philippines) Copyright: 2003, Sunstar Contact: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/affiliate.php3?locid=2 Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1942 Fax: (63-32) 254-6530 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing) SUBMIT SON MIKEY TO DRUG TEST: LAWMAKER DARES GLO HOUSE minority floor leader Carlos Padilla of Nueva Vizcaya singled out presidential son, Pampanga Vice Governor Mikey Arroyo, and challenged the President to submit him to drug testing in a press briefing here last Sunday. "I am happy that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo accepted my challenge for her to undergo drug testing, but I would be happier if the President would also convince her son, Mikey, to follow suit," Padilla told reporters. While he refused to give any explanation why he is challenging Vice Gov. Mikey Arroyo, Padilla said that it would serve as a good example if members of the First Family would join the President in the drug tests. Padilla said that as president, it is but proper that she should undergo the test herself, and as members of her family, the Arroyos should also be subject to the same tests. These tests, he explained, should include husband Mike, sons Mikey, Datu and Luli. "I am willing to undergo the test, my family included, and even my son when he comes back from Paris, France, but the President must be the example," he added. Meanwhile, Chief Supt. Virtus Gil, PNP deputy director for operations, during his recent visit to Baguio, stressed that the 110,000 officers and members of the PNP are mandated to undergo drug testing. Gil, a former director of the Police Regional Office in the Cordilleras (PRO-CAR), said that any policeman who refuses to submit himself to a drug test could be charged for insubordination since all police officers are mandated to follow orders. BCPO Director Supt. Francisco Manalo Jr. said that the penalty for a policeman's refusing direct orders to undergo these tests would be up to the PRO-CAR to decide. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh