Four Metro Manila police officers have tested positive for the use of illegal drugs following random narcotics testing among members of the Philippine National Police.

The four are assigned to the National Capital Region Police Office, P/Lt. Col. Eunice Salas, NCRPO spokesperson, said.

A total of 175 cops from the NCRPO headquarters were subjected to random drug testing on 4 January, with one testing positive twice during the initial and confirmatory tests.

Three out of 405 police officers from the Eastern Police District also tested positive after a random drug test on 2 January. All three also failed the confirmatory tests, Salas said.

NCRPO chief P/Maj. Gen. Jose Nartatez ordered the drug tests as part of the PNP’s internal cleansing program.

The four who flunked the drug tests had been disarmed of their service firearms and assigned to holding units. They shall undergo a pre-charge investigation and given 15 days to challenge their results before facing summary dismissal proceedings.

Nartatez said that 300 out of 800 Metro Manila cops facing charges have already been relieved since he was assigned to head the NCRPO in July 2023.

“We are looking at our personnel, what they are doing, and we are continuously doing that (cleansing of rogue cops),” Nartatez said. “It’s just a matter of producing evidence so we can punisn and dismiss them.”

The NCRPO chief said that he immediately worked to look at the case folders of cops facing charges, including administrative complaints.

He said some punitive orders have not been implemented due to procedural lapses.

The five police districts under NCRPO are the Manila Police District, Quezon City Police District, Northern Police District, Southern Police District, and Eastern Police District.