Retired Gen. Dionisio Santiago.
Undersecretary Jose Marlowe Pedregosa has been designated as officer-in-charge of the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB).
This was disclosed on Wednesday by no other than DDB’s recently resigned chief, retired Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff General Dionisio Santiago.
Santiago tendered his irrevocable resignation on Tuesday after he was reportedly asked by Malacañang to leave his post following his remarks before the media that the creation of the 10,000-bed mega drug rehabilitation center in Nueva Ecija was a “mistake.”
READ: Dionisio Santiago quits chair of Dangerous Drugs Board
“Alam ko na ang papalit…yung papalit sa akin, yung kaibigan ko naman. He was designated immediately as OIC (officer-in-charge). Si General Pedregosa,” Santiago said in an interview over Radyo Inquirer 990AM.
Pedregosa was Executive Director of the DDB from January 28, 2013 to August 30, 2016.
“Tapos ang mga programs naman in place e. Yung gusto nyong ituloy, ituloy nyo. Binilin ko naman sabi ko i-institutionalize nyo lahat para hindi na mahirapan yung papalit,” he added.
Despite his resignation, Santiago assured that his respect for President Rodrigo Duterte and support for the administration’s war on drugs would remain.
“The respect is still there, the support will always be there. Sa akin, hindi naman kami nag-away e,” Santiago said referring to Duterte.
“O kung may nangyari man… kaya ang tanong ko pag tinatanong nyo ako dito better ask them. Because if there is a deeper problem, deeper reason, they will know best. Hindi ako. Hindi ako pwedeng mag-explain, baka mali ang explanation ko,” he also said.
Santiago earlier said he was asked to resign from his post for his comment against the mega drug rehab center. He maintained, however, that he did not use the word “mistake” as reported by the media.
“I’ll correct, hindi akin yung word na mistake. Pina review ko, e hindi ko ginamit,” he said.
According to Santiago, the word he used was “impractical” because the budget allotted for the construction of the rehabilitation center “could have been utilized much better.”
READ: Drugs board chief: 10,000-bed rehab center in Nueva Ecija a ’mistake’
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