MANILA, Philippines — The names of Ozamiz City Police chief Major Jovie Espenido, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde and Armed Forces chief-of-staff Gen. Benjamin Madrigal Jr. were initially floated as possible replacements of sacked Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Nicanor Faeldon, Senator Bong Go disclosed on Wednesday.
Go said Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto suggested that Espenido head the BuCor, after President Rodrigo Duterte fired Faeldon following the alleged irregularities in the implementation of the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law.
“Si Espenido [ay] ni-recommend ni SP (Senate President) Sotto. Maraming former generals, former officials na gusto mag-apply but at the end of the day, si Presidente Duterte po ang mamimili, and it’s his personal choice po si Bantag,” he told reporters at Senate in a chance interview.
He was referring to former Manila City Jail warden Gerald Bantag who was appointed on Tuesday to lead the agency.
READ: Bantag named new BuCor chief
But Go said Duterte already named Bantag as BuCor chief when Sotto told him Espinido could be qualified for the post.
Espenido was chief of the Ozamiz City police when members of the Parojinog family, who were holding government posts in the city, were killed in anti-drug raids in 2017.
Go added that the names of Albayalde and Madrigal were among the names floated as the next possible BuCor chief during a recent command conference of top officials of the PNP and AFP.
“Nung isang command conference, [they were told] ‘O, ikaw, magreretire ka na sa susunod na linggo or buwan, ikaw na ang susunod sa BuCor. Alam niyo [there were] no takers. Mga generals na ito, army and police. Tanong mo kay General Albayalde, namention na, ikaw [you can be the next BuCor chief, but there were] no takers, and even Gen. Madrigal was also mentioned. No takers. Ayaw nila,” said Go.
Madrigal will retire on September 28, while Albayalde will retire on November 8 when they reach the mandatory retirement age of 56. /muf