PDEA chief Gutierrez sacked but doesn’t know it
GUTIERREZ. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Pulled out of retirement, Arturo Cacdac Jr., former Philippine National Police (PNP) deputy chief for administration, was sworn in Tuesday as the new chief of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to immediately replace Jose Gutierrez Jr.
Even as Cacdac was taking his oath before Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa yesterday, PDEA spokesman Derrick Carreon denied that the beleaguered Gutierrez had resigned amid reports implicating him in alleged irregularities.
“That report is baseless. In fact, I have just contacted him on his mobile phone. I asked him if he had resigned. He said ‘no’ categorically. That’s why it puzzles me where that report came from,” Carreon said.
“I even saw him (yesterday) morning at the PDEA office,” said Carreon, adding that he was not aware that Cacdac had been sworn in as Gutierrez’s replacement.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte belatedly confirmed Gutierrez’s resignation and Cacdac’s appointment at 6:30 p.m., when radio reports had already reported it.
She gave no further details even as reporters queried her concerning reports that Gutierrez had been asked to resign amid the controversy surrounding the Sept. 6 sacking of his deputy, Carlos Gadapan, with whom he had a falling-out.
Contacted by phone on Tuesday, Cacdac confirmed that he had already taken his oath.
“I was provided a copy of my appointment [papers] dated October 11,” he said. He read to reporters from his appointment papers, which said: “Pursuant to provisions of existing law, you are hereby appointed director general of PDEA vice Jose Gutierrez Jr.”
He said it was a “great honor to be trusted by the President.”
To combat the drug menace, Cacdac said his first duty as the new PDEA director general was to coordinate with the agencies that would help PDEA—the National Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Customs, the PNP and even the Armed Forces.
“We need to help each other. What I feel is (the need for a holistic) approach to counter the drug problem, so we need more consultations, coordination and cooperation to find solutions to problem related to drugs,” he said.
Cacdac, the second-most senior official of the PNP, retired last October 11, triggering a top-level revamp in the police force.
He opted to leave the service before the mandatory retirement age of 56. He was already on “nonduty status” on September 5.
Cacdac is a member of the Philippine Military Class of 1978.—With a report from Marlon Ramos
