Mess at QC’s ‘model police station’ gets top cop fired

THE FACADE of Quezon City’s model police station at Eastwood, Libis, provides few clues to the “mess” inside, which was reportedly so disgusting that it was enough to get its chief, Supt. Danilo Pecaña, fired.

Saying that “appearance is performance,” the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) director on Wednesday relieved the head of the Eastwood police station in Libis after he visited what was supposed to be the city’s model police station and found it “very messy.”

QCPD director Chief Supt. Richard Albano said that Supt. Danilo Pecaña had repeatedly been told to take care of the police station which was described during its opening in 2009 as the city’s premier police and fire station.

“I reminded him twice before to maintain the station and keep it orderly but improvements and corrections were unexpectedly slow in coming. As a leader, you have to be responsible enough to immediately make the necessary adjustments when your attention is called to make them,” Albano added.

Asked to describe what state he and National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) director Chief Supt. Marcelo Garbo found the Eastwood police station in when they visited it on Monday, Albano was at a loss for words.

“It was just messy. Everything was not in its proper place,” he told the Inquirer. “The business sector in Eastwood donated that station to us. We have to take care of [it].”

Albano pointed out that while the Eastwood police station commander had his accomplishments, he was also responsible for making sure that his office was neat and orderly.

He explained that it was a reflection on Pecaña’s effectiveness as a leader because in evaluating the performance of an official, appearance was also a consideration.

Albano said that based on the NCRPO chief’s observation last Monday, the Eastwood police station failed to meet the standards for a law enforcement office.

According to him, Garbo told him that he never expected a police official to keep a station so disorganized and unkempt, considering that it was supposed to serve as a showcase for the city’s other police stations.