Police Gen. Oscar Albayalde (Philippine Military Academy Class ’86) announced on Monday that he was going on nonduty status (terminal leave) as Philippine National Police chief.
When he said farewell during the flag ceremony at Camp Crame, Albayalde said his move was favorably endorsed by Interior Secretary and National Police Commission Chair Eduardo Año over the weekend.
Año has until Sunday, Oct. 20, to submit to the President his recommendation for Albayalde’s successor.
The three candidates are Police Lt. Gen. Archie Gamboa (PMA Class ’86), the deputy director general for administration who will serve as the PNP officer in charge for the next 15 days; Police Lt. Gen. Camilo Cascolan (PMA Class ’86), the deputy director general for operations, and Police Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar (PMA Class ’87), the new directorial staff chief.
Both Cascolan and Gamboa previously served in Davao and are personally known to Duterte. If selected, either of them will serve for a year while Eleazar will be good for two.
Among the President’s criteria are trustworthiness, honesty, incorruptibility, competence, aggressiveness in the war on drugs/crimes, a capacity to wage a no-nonsense “internal cleansing” and the ability to unify the PNP.
Sen. Bong Go was more direct, saying “the next PNP chief should have the balls to get rid of rotten eggs in the PNP, even if some of these are his friends. He should go after scalawags and ‘ninja cops.’”
For former police general turned Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, the next PNP chief should have “moral ascendancy,” while Sen. Richard Gordon said it should be “country first” before police camaraderie for Albayalde’s successor.
Among the three candidates, the most visible, indefatigable, respectable, incorruptible and probably the “lone bright star” in the ninja cops controversy hounding the PNP is Eleazar. In just a year as chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), Metro Manila’s crime index went down by 58 percent.
In August this year, the NCRPO was named the best police regional office for its campaign on illegal drugs and internal cleansing drive during the 118th Police Service Anniversary at Camp Crame.
In the Social Weather Station’s third quarter survey, President Duterte’s popularity in Metro Manila increased by 7 percent from 59 percent in June to 66 percent in September, thanks to the improving peace and order situation.
In my opinion, Eleazar should be the next PNP chief.
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Metro Manila residents who are building new houses must beware of substandard construction materials, particularly reinforced QT steel bars or “rebars” that cannot withstand a magnitude 7.2 quake. Dubbed the “steel that kills,” these are still used in high-rise commercial buildings and residential condominiums in key business districts.
Agusan del Norte Rep. Lawrence Lemuel Fortun said that China and Taiwan had banned the use of QT bars in the construction of high-rises. He cites the study, “A Clear and Present Danger,” by Emilio Morales, former chair of the Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines, which questions the structural stability of locally-made QT steel bars for buildings.
The Presidential Anti-Crime Commission suspects that some government officials are involved in the grade manipulation of “imported steel billets” and the misdeclaration of the true grade, size, length and weight of “produced steel rebars.”
Keep in mind the four-story Chuzon Supermarket in Porac, Pampanga, that collapsed during the magnitude 6.1 earthquake on April 22.