Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Three to four retired police officers are now in the shortlist of possible replacement of former Interior Undersecretary Rico Puno, Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas III said on Tuesday.
Puno voluntarily stepped down from his post last September supposedly to give the newly-appointed Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas III a free hand to form his own team.
“May mga kinakausap tayo, tatlo o apat na mga potensyal, at ito naman ay kini-clear din nila ‘yung kanilang buhay, ano, dahil may mga trabaho din ito o kaya may mga kasunduan na rin ito (We are talking to three or four potential candidates. They have to clear things first because they also have work),” Roxas said in an interview during the 21st Anniversary of the Bureau of Fire Protection held at the AFP Commissioned Officers Club, Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.
“ At kino-konsulta rin natin ang Pangulo so siguro sa darating na mga linggo ay mapa-finalize na rin ito. Hindi naman ako nagmamadali dahil napaka-cooperative ‘nung PNP at ‘yung datos at iba pang mga programa ay ipinapaliwanag naman nila sa atin (We are also consulting the President so maybe we can finalize this in the coming weeks. I’m not in a rush because the PNP is very cooperative. They explain to us their data and their programs),” he said.
PNP stands for Philippine National Police.
Asked if those in the shortlist all came from the private sector, Roxas answered no.
“Several of them, most of them have previous PNP experience pero nag-retiro na o kaya maaga na nag-retiro but of sufficient rank, ano, at nagkaroon na rin ng matagal-tagal na karanasan sa private sector,” he said.
“So magandang kombinasyon dahil alam nila ‘yung istraktura ng PNP. Hindi naman sobrang matanda na sila, ano, pero nag-retiro na or umalis na sa serbisyo at nakahanap naman ng mahusay at high responsibility sa private sector. So ‘yan ang mga tinitimbang natin ngayon (It’s a good combination because they know the structure of the PNP. They are not that old but they retired or left the service and found a good and high responsibility in the private sector),” he pointed out.
Roxas said he would just make a recommendation but it would still be President Benigno Aquino III himself who would choose Puno’s replacement.