MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has not yet issued any specific marching order for the chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Malacañang said Friday.
Marcos administered the oath of the newly appointed PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. last Wednesday at the Malacañang Palace.
“There are no marching orders that we know of,” Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said in a Palace briefing.
She said the PNP is expected to do its mandate of keeping peace and order, noting that the police force is also the “primary executors” of the law.
“The primary mandate of the PNP is to keep order. Sila ang primary executors, they execute the law, they enforce the law so beyond that, the President has not made any other specific orders,” Cruz-Angeles added.
The Palace official also said that part of the President’s peace and order program is “continuity,” meaning the current administration would continue programs proven effective in the last leadership.
“Whatever it was that has already been there from the past administration, if it works we continue that program,” she said.
One of the most controversial programs of the previous Duterte administration was its bloody war on drugs.
New PNP chief Azurin was the former commander of the Northern Luzon Police Area, covering the Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley Region, Central Luzon Region, and the Cordillera Administrative Region before being appointed.
He also had served as commander of the Southern Luzon Police Area.