President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has designated former Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) undersecretary for peace and order Oscar Valenzuela as the new head of the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB).
Valenzuela’s appointment was announced by the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) in a Facebook post on Friday.
Valenzuela will serve as chairperson and permanent member of the DDB. He replaced Catalino Cuy who assumed the post of DDB chair since 2018.
By virtue of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, the DDB serves as the policy-making and strategy-formulating body on drug prevention and control.
The DDB is mandated to develop and adopt a comprehensive, integrated, unified, and balanced national drug abuse prevention and control strategy.
Valenzuela is a member of Philippine Military Academy “Marangal” Class of 1974.
He held key assignments as a former police officer, serving as Police Assistant Regional Director for Operations of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and Police Provincial Director of Ilocos Norte.
Upon retirement from the Philippine National Police, Valenzuela worked as head of the National Terrorism Prevention Office of the Anti-Terrorism Council Program Management Center and chairperson of the Asia Pacific Economic Conference Counter-Terrorism Working Group.
He also led the Philippine delegation to the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism in Washington D.C. in 2015.
As former local government undersecretary for peace and order, Valenzuela supported the various programs of the National Anti-Drug Strategy, including the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency’s Anti-Drug Advocacy Program. (PNA)