FACT CHECK: Post on mandatory drug test for students not from DepEd, CHED

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The post links to an unrelated shopping website, not to any official government page

Claim: The Department of Education (DepEd) and Commission on Higher Education (CHED) released an announcement requiring all senior high school and college students to undergo drug tests for school year 2025-2026. 

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The post bearing the claim has already received 56,200 shares, 13,000 reactions, and 2,900 comments as of writing. 

Text on the post reads: “All senior high school and college students ay kailangang magpa-drug test (need to undergo drug tests) for the school year 2025-2026. Check post for details.” Its caption also mentions a supposed June start date for the drug tests, and cites a link for readers to know more about the new requirement. It also bears the DepEd and CHED logos to appear legitimate.

Many Facebook users believed the post. Some even questioned the policy, saying that if students are required to undergo drug tests, then President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. — who his critics have accused of being a drug addict — should also be required to take one. 

The facts: The post is fake and did not come from DepEd or CHED. The link included in the post redirects to a shopping site, not to any official government website. Facebook’s Page Transparency shows that the account spreading the claim was created on June 18, the same day the false information was posted.

While the post makes it seem that drug testing for students is a recent announcement, Section 36(c) of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 states that students of secondary and tertiary schools shall undergo random drug testing “pursuant to the related rules and regulations as contained in the school’s student handbook and with notice to the parents.”

DepEd and CHED have implemented random drug testing across public and private educational institutions for secondary and tertiary students, based on implementing guidelines outlined in DepEd Order No. 40, Series of 2017 and CHED Memorandum Order No. 18, Series of 2018. Random selection of participants is applied for the drug testing, referring to the unbiased process of selecting students who are to take drug tests. 

Drug testing: In 2017, human rights organizations raised concerns about the implementation of mandatory random drug testing among high school students, especially as the crackdown on illegal drugs was more prevalent at the time during the Duterte administration.

Some of the concerns raised were related to privacy, ‘false positive’ results, and potentially making students a target of Duterte’s drug war. (READ: Random drug testing of students will make minors ‘open targets’) 

Previous fact-checks: Rappler has debunked several false posts with fake links attributed to DepEd and CHED: 

• FACT CHECK: Post on DepEd student cash assistance is fake 
• FACT CHECK: Post linking to CHED-UniFAST scholarship application is fake
• FACT CHECK: K to 12 program not abolished 
• FACT CHECK: Link for ‘CHED Scholarship Program 2024’ is fake 
• FACT CHECK: Registration links for education cash aid lead to shopping sites 
• FACT CHECK: Link for CHED P5,000 cash aid for all graduating students is fake

– Angelee Kaye Abelinde/Rappler.com 

Angelee Kaye Abelinde is a student journalist based in Naga City, and an alumna of Rappler’s Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship 2024. 

Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.