PDEA chief reassigned to Clark Airport

MANILA, Philippines — Aaron Aquino is out as director general of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

President Duterte has transferred Aquino to Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) as its president and chief executive officer.

Replacing Aquino as director general is Wilkins Villanueva, currently chief of the PDEA office in Northern Mindanao.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. refused to speculate on the reason for Aquino’s transfer. Roque said yesterday that the President was not firing Aquino from the PDEA.

“I know that Aaron will be given a new assignment by the President. He is not being fired. He will just be transferred to another post,” Roque said, adding Aquino was appointed to the CIAC board on May 22.

Aquino was reportedly expecting his appointment as CIAC chief even before Malacañang announced it the other day.

“Yes, he was expecting the appointment. We do not know why he was chosen for the CIAC post, but General Aquino is ready to serve the President and the people in any capacity,” Irish Calaguas, Aquino’s chief of staff at the PDEA, told The STAR yesterday.

Aquino will replace Jake Bingcang, concurrent vice president of the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA). Bingcang was appointed to the CIAC in a concurrent capacity late last year.

Sources from the CIAC, who asked not to be identified, said the replacement of Bingcang from the CIAC has no negative implications. ?“He is a decent and capable manager. Perhaps it’s just that he holds the CIAC post only in concurrent capacity, so it’s but normal that someone else is appointed permanently to the CIAC post,” one of the sources said.

Employees said they expect Aquino to pick his own vice president for operations, a position which has been vacant for months.

The CIAC is a government-owned and controlled corporation that oversees the operations of the Clark International Airport.

It was reverted into a subsidiary of the BCDA from the Department of Transportation through an executive order signed by Duterte.

Aquino had figured in a dispute with former Bureau of Customs (BOC) chief Isidro Lapeña.

The conflict stemmed from a raid conducted on a warehouse in Cavite where PDEA agents recovered magnetic lifters with traces of shabu.

Duterte intervened and told Aquino and Lapeña to stop bickering.

Lapeña was transferred to the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

New PDEA chief

Villanueva was former chief of the PDEA-National Capital Region (NCR) before he joined Lapeña at the BOC.

He resigned from Customs after Lapeña ordered a reshuffle.

When he was chief of the PDEA-NCR field office, Villanueva led the raid on a warehouse in Valenzuela where some P6.4 billion worth of shabu that slipped past the BOC was recovered.

Roque said Villanueva is no stranger to drug enforcement.

“He has been working with the PDEA for many years before reaching the top position. We believe Villanueva will lead PDEA and the fight against illegal drugs to greater heights with professionalism, passion and integrity,” Roque said.

After learning about his appointment, Villanueva warned drug syndicates and vowed to conduct massive and relentless operations against people involved in the illegal drug trade.

Villanueva vowed to intensify law enforcement operations and surpass the accomplishments of Aquino.

He said he would first focus the anti-drug operation in areas with few or no cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

“We will continue to intensify our campaign against illegal drugs but at the same time we have to come up with new protocols, especially after the onslaught of the coronavirus disease 2019,” Villanueva told The STAR.

“We now have COVID-19 as the new reality and we also have to go over how we conduct our operations since there are protocols like social distancing and how to go about arresting suspects especially in stings,” he added.

Welcomed

Senators as well as Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) chairman Catalino Cuy welcomed Villanueva’s appointment as PDEA chief.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson said Villanueva is a good and professional officer fit for the job.

“The President couldn’t have appointed a more qualified head of the PDEA, having served our country for nearly 20 years with the Philippine National Police narcotics group and with the PDEA,” Lacson said.

“With the challenge of going after drug personalities amid the new normal posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, he has his work cut out for him. I look forward to working with him, being the Senate finance sub-committee chair and sponsor of PDEA and DDB budgets, among others,” Lacson said.

Sen. Ronald dela Rosa said President Duterte made the best decision in selecting Villanueva.

Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption president Arsenio Evangelista said they would observe Villanueva’s performance.  Emmanuel Tupas, Ding Cervantes, Edith Regalado, Gerry Lee-Gorit, Cecille Suerte Felipe