President Rodrigo Duterte has named Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission chief Dante Jimenez as the new co-chairperson of the Inter-Agency Committee Against Illegal Drugs, three months after Vice President Leni Robredo was sacked from the post.
The President named Jimenez as ICAD co-chair on Feb. 21, based on a list of appointees released Friday.
The post was briefly held by Robredo. Duterte appointed her to the once non-existent post after she said that the government’s campaign against illegal drugs should be examined.
President Duterte fired Robredo for committing “missteps” such as talking with groups and individuals critical of his campaign against illegal drugs.
Jimenez, on the other hand, was the founding chairman of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption before he assumed leadership of the PACC.
The ICAD was created by President Duterte in March 2017 through an executive order to ensure the effective conduct of anti-illegal drug operations and arrest of “high-value drug personalities down to the street level peddlers and users.”
The EO states that the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency will serve as a committee chair, but there was no mention of the co-chair post.
Robredo had previously suggested transferring the leadership of the body to the Dangerous Drugs Board, saying it is better equipped in crafting a more balanced approach against the country’s narcotics problems.
Aside from Jimenez, the President also appointed the Department of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Policy Enrique Manalo as the new permanent representative of the Philippines to the United Nations.
Manalo replaces lawyer Rodolfo Robles, who in turn, was appointed as the Philippines’ ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Canada.
Robles was part of a consultative committee formed by Duterte tasked to craft a new constitution that establishes a federal system of government.
The President also named Abdullah Hashim as a member of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority.