Solon urges PDEA chief to quit his job

MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker on Wednesday said that Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency director general Undersecretary Jose Gutierrez Jr. should resign in view of his alleged failure to curb the proliferation of illegal drugs in the country.

Zambales Representative Milagros “Mitos” Magsaysay told reporters in a media forum that Gutierrez should step down from office for his poor performance at the helm of the anti-narcotics agency.

Gutierrez recently said that he would step down quietly if President Benigno Aquino III was dissatisfied with his work. He made the statement following Aquino’s order to investigate the entire agency in the aftermath of the axing of PDEA deputy director general Carlos Gadapan.

“[The] bottomline he failed to curb illegal drugs…” she said, adding he should resign.

She noted that the P181.96 million proposed funding for the PDEA was inadequate.

“They are doomed to fail with that budget,” she said, pointing out that the visible in-fighting inside the agency is also worsening its performance. “This is not good for PDEA, how do you expect it to be productive?”

House minority leader Danilo Suarez estimated the number of drug users in the country to be “not below two million” contrary to data from the PDEA which showed less users of illegal drugs.