MANILA, Philippines – Retired Philippine National Police (PNP) general Isagani Nerez is the new Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) director general, Malacañang confirmed on Tuesday, February 4.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin confirmed Nerez’s appointment. The new PDEA chief replaced fellow PNP retired general and former Special Action Forces chief Moro Virgilio Lazo, who served from October 2022 up until his replacement.
Nerez becomes the 9th PDEA director general, and the second under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Under the law, the PDEA director general oversees the agency “responsible for the efficient and effective law enforcement of all the provisions on any dangerous drug and/or controlled precursor and essential chemical as provided in this act (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002).”
Like a number of Marcos appointees, Nerez has Ilocos ties. He served as Baguio City police chief in the mid-2000s. He also later became the chief of the Cordillera regional police. – Rappler.com