AUGUST 11, 2017 10:06PM EDT

Philippines: Mandatory College Drug Tests Imperil Students

Duterte’s Campus Anti-Drug Plans Threaten Student Safety, Education
Rights

(Manila) – The Philippine government’s
plan for mandatory drug testing for all
college students and applicants seriously
threatens their safety and right to
education, Human Rights Watch said
today. On August 2, 2017, the
official Commission on Higher Education,
which produces “plans, policies and Students protest extrajudicial killings at a university in metro
strategies” for higher education under the Manila, Philippines, September 30, 2016.
office of the president, approved © 2016 Reuters

a memorandum order to be implemented at the start of school next

year.

The college drug testing plan is a dangerous outgrowth of the Duterte

administration’s abusive “war on drugs.” The order permits local
governments, the police and other law enforcement agency to “carry
out any drug-related operation within the school premises” with the
approval of school administrators. This will effectively allow the police
to extend their “anti-drug” operations to college and university
campuses, placing students at grave risk.

“Imposing mandatory drug testing of Mandatory drug testing of students puts

students when Philippine police are them in the crosshairs of Duterte’s abusive

committing rampant summary killings of drug war, risking the creation of a school-
to-cemetery track for students testing
alleged drug users puts countless children positive for drugs.

in danger for failing a drug test,” Phelim Kine

said Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director. Deputy Asia Director

“Education officials should be protecting

students, not putting them in harm’s way through mandatory drug
tests.”
Since President Rodrigo Duterte launched his abusive “war on drugs”
on June 30, 2016, more than 7,000 suspected drug users and dealers
have been killed by Philippine National Police officers or unknown
gunmen. Human Rights Watch research found that the police have
routinely committed extrajudicial executions of drug suspects and
then covered up their crimes by planting drugs and guns at the scene.
The police often target individuals whose names appeared on
neighborhood “drug watch lists” drawn up by local officials in
collusion with the police.

The higher education commission order does not require, but

“strongly encourages,” schools of higher education to impose random
mandatory drug testing of students and applicants. It follows the
Department of Education’s announcement in May that it will
launch random drug tests of primary, elementary, and high school
students later this year.

Sanctions imposed on students could make them more vulnerable to

police abuse. Although the order requires that educational authorities
keep confidential the results of students who test positive for drug use,
schools are empowered to impose sanctions on those students or
school applicants, including expulsion or admission denial. The order
also allows schools to penalize students or applicants who refuse drug
tests “subject to the relevant sanctions as provided in the [higher
education] student handbook,” without elaborating.

The order justifies mandatory drug tests as a means to identify drug

users for the purpose of rehabilitation. However, Philippine drug
rehabilitation programs are overwhelmingly coercive and detention-
oriented, contrary to international standards. Human Rights Watch
has long called on the Philippine government and its multilateral
donors to ensure that its drug-dependence treatment programs are
voluntary, community-based, and comport with international
standards and human rights principles.

The mandatory testing of children for drug use raises human rights
concerns. Taking a child’s bodily fluids, whether blood or urine,
without their consent, may violate the right to bodily integrity and
constitute arbitrary interference with their privacy and dignity.
Depending on the manner in which such testing occurs, it could also
constitute degrading treatment, and may deter children from
attending school or college for reasons unrelated to any potential drug
use, depriving them of their right to an education. In many situations,
excluding a student from studies due to a positive drug test may also
be a disproportionate limitation on a child’s right to education.

“Mandatory drug testing of students puts them in the crosshairs of

Duterte’s abusive drug war, risking the creation of a school-to-
cemetery track for students testing positive for drugs,” Kine said. “The
Philippine government should educate students about the health
hazards of illegal drugs—not make them targets for unlawful killings
by police and their agents.”

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Region / Country

Asia
Philippines

Topic

Children's Rights
Education
Attacks on Health

Tags

Philippines’ ‘War on Drugs’

More Reading
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Source URL: https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/08/11/philippines-mandatory-college-

drug-tests-imperil-students

Links
[1] https://www.hrw.org/view-mode/modal/307766
[2] https://www.hrw.org/asia/philippines
[3] http://www.ched.gov.ph/central/page/historical-background
[4] http://api.ched.ph/api/v1/download/4744
[5] https://www.hrw.org/tag/philippines-war-drugs
[6] https://www.hrw.org/about/people/phelim-kine
[7] https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/03/02/philippines-police-deceit-drug-war-killings
[8] http://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-duterte-hitlists-idUSKCN127049
[9] http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2017/08/08/mandatory-drug-test-college-students-
applicants.html
[10] http://www.rappler.com/nation/169965-drug-test-public-teacher-students-
academic-year
[11] http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2017/05/15/deped-conduct-drug-tests-
public-schools-541980
[12] http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/02/14/1672074/few-takers-drug-rehab-
says-doh
[13] https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/05/17/japan-dont-fund-abusive-philippine-drug-
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