As a unified stance against illegal drugs, the City Government officials of Tagbilaran led by City Mayor John Geesnell “BABA” Yap and City Vice-Mayor Jose Antonio “TOTO” Veloso, together with City Councilors Joseph Bompat, Atty. Adam Relson Jala, Jerry Pabe, Bebiano Inting, Dulce Chatto-Glovasa, Betty Torralba, Atty. Dodong Gonzaga, Atty. Butchie Zamora, Philip and Nick Besas took the initiative and voluntarily submitted themselves to a drug test. After a couple of minutes, the outcome yielded a negative result for the group.

Mayor Yap in an interview said that this move was a clear pronouncement against the malicious report of a local newspaper (not The Chronicle) about the alleged involvement of some city councilors in illegal drugs. Further, he noted that being able to subject themselves in a standard procedure which yielded negative results from illegal drugs only showed their moral ascendancy to lead the City Government.

Moreover, the negative results only proved that the accusations thrown were just an outright lie. The article which was published last week cited no concrete sources and did not even mention names.

Responsible journalism should always espouse its major ethical principles — which are truth and accuracy, the mayor advised.