MANILA—(UPDATED) The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency on Thursday said it will push for mandatory drug testing among teachers and students in grade 4 and up.

"Iyung mga series of arrests na ginagawa natin, iyung nai-involve ay mga estudyante saka mga teachers. Iyung pinaka-youngest naming naano [naaresto] is I think 10 years old," PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino told reporters.

Mandatory drug testing sa lahat ng grade 4 student pataas, isusulong ng PDEA; mga guro, kasama ring sasalang sa mandatory drug testing pic.twitter.com/jkMvzlOr8A | via @robertmanodzmm

— DZMM TeleRadyo (@DZMMTeleRadyo) June 21, 2018

PDEA has coordinated with the Dangerous Drugs Board and Department of Education over its proposal, said Aquino.

The agency, he said, will also push for the regulation of shows streamed online, which may have explicit content on how to use drugs.

PDEA is also coordinating with police and other agencies to come up with a centralized drugs watchlist, said Aquino.

Aquino made the statement as the PDEA distributed P189 million worth of new equipment to its agents.

DEPED ON DRUG TEST

Education Secretary Leonor Briones, however, rejects the idea of subjecting elementary students to mandatory drug testing.

"It has to be on the high school level, hindi iyong Grade 4. Ang instructions sa akin ni President Duterte ay at the Grade 4 level ay i-enhance ang curriculum tungkol sa drugs," she said.

(It has to be on the high school level, not those in Grade 4. President Duterte's instructions involving Grade 4 students is to enhance the curriculum on drugs.)

She added that the Department of Education is very careful in implementing drug tests on young students, as it can affect their lives.

"We are very very careful about this dahil you can destroy a child's life," Briones added.

— With reports from Robert Mano and Jasmin Romero, ABS-CBN News

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