PDEA HEAD TAKES OVER DDB HELM

PRESIDENT Macapagal-Arroyo has approved the designation of Philippine
Drug Enforcement Agency chairman Anselmo S. Avenido Jr. as the new
permanent head of the Dangerous Drugs Board.

Avenido's position gives him the Cabinet rank of a Secretary tasked to
oversee the operations of the PDEA. He will be replaced at the drug
enforcement agency by retired Armed Forces chief Dionisio Santiago.

Santiago, the erswhile executive director of the DDB, will be replaced
by retired police general Edgar Galvante.

All three are graduates of the elite Philippine Military
Academy.

A reorganization of the DDB and the PDEA will start when the three
officials assume their new positions next week.

Avenido, who has been the PDEA chief for the past three years had
gained the respect and admiration of the international anti-narcotics
community for his skillful handling of the PDEA.

Avenido is known for his untarnished reputation and no-nonsense style
of leadership particularly when it comes to officers directly or
indirectly involved in illegal drug activities. It was Avenido who
ordered the PDEA purged of former anti-narcotics personnel linked to
illegal drugs.

On the other hand, Santiago is expected to apply his military style of
leadership when he assumes his new job. Santiago is known for his
tough stance against criminals and rebels when he was still in the
active service, a style of leadership he is expected to bring to the
PDEA.

Officials said the DDB and PDEA will jointly launch a comprehensive
plan against illegal drug trafficking and abuse, focusing on major and
street-level drug trafficking and seeing to it that seized illegal
drugs are properly accounted for and destroyed on orders of the court.