The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday said the mandatory drug testing of election candidates is unconstitutional.
The SC made the statement amid the constitutionality issues of Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte’s proposal to require drug testing for all elected officials.
“The provision requiring the mandatory drug testing of candidates is unconstitutional because it expanded the requirements of candidates under the Constitution, but it upheld the random drug testing of private and public officials,” said lawyer Sue Mae Ting, the SC spokesperson.
In the 2008 case of Social Justice Society vs. Dangerous Drugs Board, the Supreme Court sitting en banc, ruled that Section 36(g) of Republic Act (RA) 9165 and Comelec Resolution No. 6486 imposed an additional qualification for candidates for senator, which is not allowed by the 1987 Constitution.
In the said case, the SC said the Constitution itself prescribes specific qualifications for senators, and neither Congress nor Comelec can add to these qualifications, making the mandatory drug test requirement unconstitutional.
For his part, Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairperson George Garcia said earlier this week the requirement is a good proposal, but legal implications must first be looked into.
Meanwhile, lawyer Roberto Rafael Pulido, a constitutional law professor, said the passage of the law cannot be done as the present Constitution already provides for the qualifications.
“It is a grave violation of the Constitution. There can be no benefit from a law that violates the Constitution. In law, the fruit of the poisonous tree is equally poisonous,” he told Manila Standard.
Pulido underscored the mandatory drug testing is a “suspicionless search of one’s body” that is also violative of Section 2, Article 3 of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution.
