AMID the pandemic, a powerhouse Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) team has zoomed into action, actually shifting literally into overdrive as it pursues its commitment to clear the remaining drug-affected barangays in the country with 10 months left in the Duterte administration.

Leading the charge to clear the remaining 12,731 of illegal drugs of course is PDEA chair, Director General Wilkins Villanueva, a member of Philippine Military Academy ‘Maringal’ Class of 1988 who recently marked his successful 1st year in office.

Villanueva is at the helm of the Agency which is trying to beat President Duterte’s deadline of ending the drug problem by June 2020 as it has been the former Davao City mayor’s commitment to the Filipino people.

The PDEA chief is getting full support from two other Peemayers, newly-appointed PDEA Deputy Director General for Administration, now Assistant Secretary Diosdado Carreon of PMA ‘Hinirang’ Class of 1987 and my long-time friend, PDEA Deputy Director General for Operations, Assistant Sec. Greg Pimentel of PMA ‘Sandiwa’ Class of 1985.

Villanueva, a former Police Colonel has championed the Barangay Drug Clearing Program or BCDP which is the national anti-drug campaign that embodies a holistic and ‘whole-of-nation approach’ in ridding illegal drugs in the communities. The BDCP is a ‘brainchild’ of Villanueva which was adopted and turned into a Board Regulation by the Dangerous Drugs Board headed by another friend, Sec. Catalino Cuy of PMA ‘Dimalupig’ Class of 1981.

Villanueva said they recently got a major boost with the recent appointment of Carreon, a bemedalled retired Army major general who spent most of his career in Mindanao. The official said Carreon “has something extra to bring to the table, taking along with him a ton of strategic military experience, intelligence and leadership to the organization.”

President Duterte designated Carreon, actually a brother of PDEA spokesperson, Director Derrick Arnold Carreon to his new posts barely weeks after his retirement. Carreon bowed out of the Armed Forces after more than 37 years of sterling service including leading his men in battling New People’s Army and separatist rebels in Mindanao.

Carreon has had a long, colorful and distinguished career as a decorated military officer. He held major positions in the AFP including being a former commander of the Philippine Army’s 40th Infantry Battalion, Force Commander of the Special Intelligence Force of the Intelligence Service of the AFP; commanding officer of the Joint Task Force Gensan; commander of the Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade; and commanding general of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division or the famed ‘Kampilan’ Division based in Central Mindanao.

On the other hand, Pimentel is a retired Police Major General who has been with PDEA for over two years now. I have known Pimentel since his much younger days as a seasoned police intelligence officer who helped bring down some of the country’s most wanted rebels and terrorists.

We were also together in a number of major anti-carnapping operations during the time of another famous PMA Class 1981 member, Gen. Dindo Espina as director of the PNP Highway Patrol Group. Pimentel in fact was the ‘architect’ of one of the biggest HPG ‘intelligence-driven’ operations which resulted in the recovery of hundreds of SUVs, vans and cars stolen in Metro Manila and shipped by a well-entrenched syndicate to some parts of Visayas and Mindanao where they were sold to both witting and unwitting buyers.

Well-respected by his peers, colleagues and subordinates, Pimentel is a seasoned and well-rounded expert in police operations and intelligence who retired as PNP Director for Intelligence.

DG Villanueva said that despite the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, they are going all-out to get the job done.

“PDEA has a self-imposed countdown and is entering the homestretch. I firmly believe that no challenge is insurmountable. The Agency is surrounded by succeeders: dynamic leadership, and dedicated front liners and support personnel. We have what it takes to get the job done,” he said.

Good luck and may the Lord Almighty guide you in your mission.

PRAYERS FOR COPS, SOLDIERS FELLED BY COVID-19

On a personal note, my family and I would like to join prayers for our ‘front-liners’ who have been felled down by COVID-19 since March last year. While writing this piece, there are already a total of 108 Philippine National Police personnel who have passed away after getting the dreaded virus since March 2020. To date, the number of police personnel who have been afflicted by the disease has reached 35,703 although 33,357 of them have fully recovered and are now back to full duty status.

I’m saying my prayers too for three members of PMA ‘Matikas’ Class of 1983 who succumbed to the virus in a span of two weeks only. They are retired Army Major Gen. Romy Gan, retired Police Brig. Gen. Alln Guisihan and my friend, retired Police Brig. Gen. Asher Dolina.

Members of PMA Class 1983 led by DILG Secretary Ed are mourning the death of the three, I was told. First to succumb to the deadly disease last August 26 was Gan, the deputy administrator for administrative and finance of the National Irrigation Administration.

He was followed by Guisihan who was the Executive Director of the Philippine Center for Transnational Crime with the rank of Undersecretary when he passed away last September 4.

Last Saturday, my friend Asher Dolina, the NIA Security and Management Consultant for Western Mindanao also died after contracting the virus.

To those who are unfamiliar with Dolina, the man is a former Marine officer who joined the PNP in 1991. He is a known ‘strongman’ who has an untiring passion for long-distance running and swimming.

Asher and I became friends in the early 90s. We have one thing in common: we trace our roots in Visayas region, he being from Leyte while my father is from Samar. He also introduced me to his brother-priest from Tacloban City although I did not have a chance to get to know his other brother from PMA Class 1985.

He is a known disciplinarian who will always come to the defense of his men, the poor and the oppressed. In the early 2000, he became known for ‘rescuing’ an upperclassman from the hands of suspected ‘Ninja Cops’ at the Manila Police District headquarters. He later told me that he was the chief of the CIDG Manila Field Office when he learned of the incident in which some rogue cops snatched his upperclassman and the latter’s friends inside a house in Quezon City.

Dolina said that they learned that the suspects tried to ‘plant’ drug evidence on the official whom they handcuffed not knowing he is a superior officer. Following the information, Dolina and his men ‘stormed’ the MPD officer where the official was being held illegally nearly triggering a shootout. The rest is history as they say.

Also a lawyer, Asher became involved in a number of major police investigations when he was still with the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group during the Macapagal-Arroyo administration. We used to have coffee in his office to discuss major developments in their investigations during those days, some of them highly-confidential. Asher had his ‘ups and downs’ in the force but managed to overcome all of them, even scoring a favorable court decision which reverted a ruling dismissing him and some fellow officers from the PNP Maritime Group due to an alleged anomalous boat procurement program. It was a sweet victory for Asher as he managed to get all benefits due him upon his retirement.

A member of PMA ‘Makatao’ Class of 1989, Army Brig. Gen. Bagnus Gaerlan had also died of COVID-19 the other day. As of Tuesday, there are a total of 108 active PNP personnel who have died of COVID-19, the highest-ranked of them the late Brig. Gen. Jonathan Ureta, a product of the PNP Academy who was the director of the PNP EOD/K9 Group when he contracted the virus and died early this year.

May God bless their souls and may He continue to protect us from the virus as we try to live a normal life amid these dangerous times. With Dennis Fetalino