COMELEC bucked the proposed drug test for all candidates in the 2022 elections.
COMELEC — The Commission on Elections bucked the proposed drug test for all national and local candidates in the 2022 elections.
“We’ve done this before. The Supreme Court ruled against it, and we stopped,” COMELEC spokesperson James Jimenez said on Friday, citing a Supreme Court (SC) decision.
Suggestions to conduct drug tests for national and local candidates in the 2022 elections were floated on Thursday which some presidential aspirants agreed to.
Presidential aspirant Manila Mayor Isko Moreno was the first one to say that drug tests should be mandatory for all candidates in the 2022 elections.
“Dapat ‘yan baka mamaya may adik na kandidato. Can you imagine kapag may adik na presidente. Let’s be honest to ourselves, how can we campaign against drugs eh even the President nagda-drugs?” he said.
This was welcomed by Senator Panfilo Lacson, Senator Ronald Dela Rosa, Senator Manny Pacquiao, and the camp of Vice President Leni Robredo, all of whom were running for president next year.
Presidential aspirant and labor leader Leody de Guzman said that the issue on illegal drugs must be discussed.
READ ALSO: COMELEC Officially Releases Tentative List Of Candidates For 2022 Elections
Senate President Vicente Sotto III, meanwhile, noted that he pushed for mandatory drug testing under the Republic Act No. 9165 but it was declared “unconstitutional” by the Supreme Court.
In 2008, the Supreme Court declared as “unconstitutional” the provision in the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 mandating drug testing to all candidates for public office.
The Supreme Court said that the provision violated the 1987 Constitution because it added another qualification for senators as enumerated in Section 3, Article VI of the charter.
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