Moro Virgilio Lazo
MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos has appointed retired police general Moro Virgilio Lazo as the new head of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
Lazo's appointment was confirmed by Office of the Press Secretary officer-in-charge Undersecretary Cheloy Garafil on Thursday night.
Lazo will succeed Wilkins Villanueva as director general of the PDEA, which serves as the government's lead agency in the anti-narcotics campaign.
Villanueva, in a Facebook post, shared a copy of Lazo's appointment paper inked by Marcos on Oct. 19.
Lazo is a member of the Philippine Military Academy "Maharlika" Class of 1984.
After graduating from PMA in 1984, Lazo joined the Philippine National Police's (PNP) elite Special Action Force (SAF).
He served as SAF director in March 2015.
He was also a member of the Presidential Security Group during the term of the late president Fidel V. Ramos.
Lazo also served as chief of the PNP's Firearms and Explosives Office; provincial police director of Benguet and Cagayan; and regional director for Central Luzon.
Marcos vowed to continue the anti-illegal drugs campaign but emphasized the approach will be different, to include focusing on the treatment and rehabilitation of drug users.
In a Facebook post, Villanueva expressed gratitude for serving at PDEA for two decades.
"It is with profound gratitude that I close my two decades of professional service to God and country in the field of drug law enforcement," he said.
"My profound thanks also to His Excellency President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos, Jr. for allowing me to continue serving as the seventh Director General until my worthy successor was appointed as of October 19, 2022," Villanueva added.
Leaving behind a "legacy of professional, dynamic, excellence-driven and accountable drug law enforcers," Villanueva vowed to continue supporting the Marcos administration's campaign against illegal drugs. (PNA)
