President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. led the swearing-in ceremony of retired Police General Benjamin C. Acorda Jr., who officially took his oath as Undersecretary of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) at Malacañang Palace.
Acorda succeeds Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz, who previously served as the commission’s Executive Director.
President Marcos first appointed Acorda as chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in April 2023, a post he held until March 2024.
Acorda is a member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) “Sambisig” Class of 1991 and served as Director of the PNP Directorate for Intelligence before assuming the top police post.
Cruz, a former Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) chief, was appointed as PAOCC Undersecretary in January 2023.
The PAOCC was established under Executive Order No. 295 (2000) to ensure an effective and efficient national anti-crime campaign through coordinated intelligence and counterintelligence efforts, focusing on identifying, prosecuting, and dismantling criminal groups and their protectors within government.
Under Cruz’s leadership, the PAOCC spearheaded the nationwide crackdown on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) following a series of human trafficking and other criminal activities linked to the industry — a campaign aligned with President Marcos’s directive to impose a total ban on illegal POGO operations.