LEAVING A LASTING LEGACY IN DRUG LAW ENFORCEMENT

In government service, as in life in general, things important or valued could only stay for a definite period of time. Such is the case with Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency’s (PDEA) seventh Director General Wilkins Villanueva, who has gone back to private life.

Villanueva, a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy’s (PMA) Maringal Class of 1988, served as head of the country’s lead drug enforcement agency for two-and-a-half years. Within this period, the PDEA agents successfully enforced the country’s antidrug laws and programs while maintaining the agency’s integrity. He attributes his success to the PMA’s core values of courage, integrity, and loyalty. These values that shaped him and made him the man he is today served as his motivation, allowing him to overcome obstacles while serving PDEA.

It was President Rodrigo Roa Duterte who appointed him as PDEA chief on May 22, 2020. His appointment as PDEA’s 7th director general was, for him, a recognition of his dedication and sacrifices for the country.

Villanueva remembers his oathtaking as the agency’s seventh director general as a moment of crowning glory. “Ito kasi ‘yung ultimate dream ng lahat ng (This is the ultimate dream of all) drug enforcement officers, to.....