Vice President Sara Duterte has expressed her willingness to undergo a hair follicle drug test alongside Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte and Congressman Paolo Duterte.
She voiced support for House Bill 10744, proposed by her brother, Rep. Paolo Duterte, which mandates random drug tests for all elected and appointed government officials, including the president, using hair follicle samples every six months.
The bill also seeks to institutionalize voluntary drug testing for electoral candidates within 90 days before elections.
Public officials who test positive could face suspension or removal from office. She believes this measure is crucial to ensure government officials are “in their right minds.”
She emphasized the need for a law mandating random drug testing for government officials, stating, “We need a law to regulate it and outline how drug testing should be conducted,” Duterte told reporters in an interview on Saturday.
“We’ll kelangan natin ng batas to regulate it and malatag doon kung paano gawin Yung drug testing. At syempre para sa mga umaayaw magpa test pero hindi na kailangan ng batas doon sa mga taong gusto naman magpa drug testing kelangan lang natin na malatag ng maayos kung ano yung guidelines,” she further said.
She stressed the importance of involving a third party to ensure the validity of the results. “A third party should collect the samples, and we should have our own samples tested as well,” she said.
She explained that their decision to accept the drug test challenge was driven by public demand. “When such a request comes from the people and is legitimate and reasonable, you need to listen to what the public is asking for,” she said.
The vice president was in Davao city on Saturday and donated her book titled “Isang Kaibigan” to the Library and Information Center. She read books to several children from Field of Dreams, Quick Response Team for Children, Paginhawaan Drop-In Center for Children, Balay Dangupan, and Sidlakan.
