NCRPO chief Eleazar earns Civil Service honors

METRO’S TOP COP Police Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar receives the Presidential Lingkod ng Bayan Award for his accomplishments as NCRPO chief. With him (from left) are Rosalie Eleazar, president of the PNP Officers’ Ladies Club; and Philip Apostol, director of the Civil Service Commission.

MANILA, Philippines — “We should stop vandalism and arrest petty crimes before these transcend into heavier crimes,” said Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), this year’s recipient of the Presidential Lingkod ng Bayan Award for NCR.

“We will continue our fight against all forms of criminality, illegal drugs, abusive police scalawags in our ranks, and lastly, terrorism,” Eleazar said as he accepted the award given by the Civil Service Commission (CSC).

The official announced a new NCRPO campaign dubbed “Intensified Cleanliness Policy,” which he said would serve as rallying point for the men and women under his command, at a time when the crime index rate in Metro Manila has dropped to a “historic low” of 58 percent.

“This means cleaning communities of crime and illegal drugs, cleaning our ranks, our attitude toward work, so we do not get into trouble with the law that we ourselves are supposed to uphold,” he stressed.

Errant directors relieved

Since his assumption as NCRPO chief last year, Eleazar has relieved errant district directors, replaced the city police chiefs of Pasay, Taguig, Las Piñas and Caloocan, and filed 5,066 administrative cases against abusive officers, of whom 364 were dismissed from the service.

On his watch, the NCRPO has also awarded 250,554 medals and citations to dedicated personnel, with 4,229 officers receiving the Medalya ng Kagitingan and 43,325 others getting the Medalya ng Papuri.

A new NCRPO medical center, a Philippine National Police Breast Center and an administrative processing center for police applicants and personnel will soon rise at Camp Bagong Diwa this year and are expected to be completed in December 2021.

Eleazar followed up on the idea of his predecessor and finalized a P500-M donation from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. and Resorts World Foundation, which in turn paved the way for a groundbreaking ceremony for the projects on June 4.

He led a police contingent in the recent cleanup of Manila Bay and launched a project aimed at planting a million trees inside Camp Bagong Diwa. He has also conducted medical and dental missions in indigent communities.

Visible, hands-on

Striving to be visible and hands-on even in the wee hours, Eleazar has been part of major police operations and arrests, confronting suspects while offering comfort to families of crime victims. He personally led raids in the slums as well as in “elite hangouts,” like Time bar in Makati, five-star hotels and exclusive subdivisions.

Out of the PNP’s list of high-value targets, totaling 854 drug personalities as of June, the NCRPO has accounted for 801—of whom 200 voluntarily surrendered, while 243 were arrested.

Graduating cum laude as a member of the Philippine Military Academy’s “Hinirang” Class of 1987, Eleazar has earned 166 medals in his PNP career. He holds a master’s degree in public administration from Philippine Christian College.

One of the nine children of  war veteran Victor Eleazar and wife, Victoria, the NCRPO chief hails from Tagkawayan, Quezon.

In bestowing the Lingkod ng Bayan Award, CSC Director Philip Apostol appealed for more public support for Eleazar’s campaigns, innovations and accomplishments.

President Duterte earlier remarked that under Eleazar’s leadership, the NCRPO has become one of the most trustworthy and reliable units of the PNP. —CONTRIBUTED