PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. named retired Major General Isagani Nerez as the new director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
The appointment was confirmed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on Tuesday, February 4, 2025.
Nerez, who took his oath of office in MalacaƱang, will replace resigned PDEA director Moro Virgilio Lazo.
The new PDEA chief is a lawyer and a member of Philippine Military Academy Maharlika Class of 1984 who held various posts in Philippine National Police (PNP) units, such as Police Anti-Crime Emergency Response, Special Action Force, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force, and the PNP Anti-Kidnapping Group.
He also served as Baguio City and Cordillera region police chief.
Nerez was among the police officials who were looking into the irregularities in the P6.7-billion anti-drug police operation in Manila that implicated dozens of PNPO members, including police generals.
In 2022, Marcos named Nerez as an undersecretary for Police Affairs at the Office of the Presidential Adviser. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)