BOOSTING ANTI-DRUG CAMPAIGN. Heads of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, Dangerous Drugs Board and the Food and Drug Administration show a copy of the memorandum of agreement regulating and monitoring the sale and dispensing of controlled drugs and substances at the PDEA Headquarters in Quezon City on Tuesday (Sept. 8, 2020). From left to right: PDEA Director General Wilkins Villanueva, DDB Chairperson Catalino Cuy, and FDA Director General Eric Domingo. (Photo courtesy of PDEA)
MANILA – The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have joined forces in regulating and monitoring the sale and dispensing of controlled drugs and substances.
PDEA Director General Wilkins M. Villanueva, DDB Chairperson Catalino Cuy, and FDA Director General Eric Domingo signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) in a simple ceremony held at the PDEA National Headquarters in Quezon City on Tuesday.
The heads of the PDEA, DDB, and FDA said their joint efforts are critical components of the top priority program of President Rodrigo Duterte in the eradication of the illegal drug menace.
Villanueva said the MOA aims to strengthen the agencies' mandates in compliance with the government's anti-drug campaign.
“This memorandum of agreement among PDEA, DDB and FDA is timely because our respective agencies play a crucial role in the efficient and effective implementation of the National Drug Control Strategy formulated by the Dangerous Drugs Board, supports the standards and regulations adopted by the Food and Drug Administration, and strengthens PDEA’s enforcement, control, and prevention of the proliferation of regulated drugs,” Villanueva said in a statement.
Under the agreement’s salient provisions, the three agencies will focus on providing resource speakers for the anti-illegal drug programs, policies, advocacies, information drive, and other related activities; updating of the list of dangerous drugs and controlled precursors and essential chemicals to ensure that each parties’ record corresponds as documentary requirements in processing registration of licenses; and assisting one another in the conduct of an investigation, intelligence gathering, seizure operations of health products containing dangerous drugs, and in the prosecution of cases. (PNA)
