By Macon Ramos Araneta

HEALTH Secretary Francisco Duque III yesterday challenged the Land Transportation Office to show proof that his office has been remiss in doing drug tests on driving-license applicants.

He dared LTO chief Alberto Suansing to back his ?serious allegations? about the Health Department which has been given direct supervision of private drug-testing firms in 2003.

?It is so easy to speculate?that?s when the problem arises, when there is no basis,? said Duque in yesterday?s Philippine College of Physicians forum in a Quezon City restaurant.

Admitting that despite rigid standards, he likewise conceded the presence of unscrupulous testing centers.

Asked about Suansing?s recommendation that drug tests were misplaced in the Health Department, Duque shrugged it off.

?If I agree and say yes, it means that we are admitting the charges being hurled against us by the LTO.?

Suansing earlier said his office should be the lead agency, insisting on the power to accredit drug-testing firms.

He said no drug addict could get a driver?s license if the mandate is returned.

?We must be allowed to scrutinize these testing centers,? Suansing said, noting that the LTO had no data on how many applicants tested positive because only the papers of those who were negative for drug use reached his office.

He noted that drivers sometimes take illegal drugs to stay awake to make the most number of revenue-trips as possible.

Suansing made the observation against the backdrop of the common practice among jeepney and bus drivers who depended on the boundary system.

Uncowed, Duque vowed to ferret out hole-in-the-wall testing centers.

?We have to countercheck if their licenses to operate are valid and genuine,? he said.

?There are many fake, forged licenses just like what happened to our blood banks.?