Comendador out, Gillamac in

The Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) will have a new head starting next week.

Senior Supt. Patrocinio Comendador said he received his relief order from Camp Crame last Wednesday.

Comendador will be replaced by Senior Supt. Noel Gillamac, the current chief of the Regional Personnel and Human Resource and Development Division.

The turnover rites wil be held on Monday.

Comendador met with Gillamac yesterday afternoon and briefed his successor of the CPPO’s current situation.

Comendador will be temporarily assigned to the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas while waiting for his next assignment.

He served as CPPO chief two years and five months after he was chosen in April 2011 by then Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia.

Before that, he was Cebu City police chief in the administrations of mayors Tomas Osmeña and Michael Rama from January 2, 2007 to Aug. 31, 2010. He was also a chief of the Regional Investigation and Detective Management Division.

As CPPO chief, Comendador said he considered as one of his accomplishments the prosecution of Bella Ruby Santos, the suspect in the abduction of 6-year-old schoolgirl Ellah Joy Pique.

Ellah Joy was abducted in Minglanilla town last Feb. 8, 2011. Her body was found dumped at the foot of a cliff in Barili town the next day.

Comendador said maintaining a mostly peaceful mid-year elections was one of his most challenging assignments.

He said that under his watch, index crimes in Cebu province went down while police-initiated operations increased in 2011 to 2012.

Under Comendador’s leadership, CPPO was chosen the country’s Best Provincial Anti-Illegal Drugs Operating Team and ranked second among police offices with the most number of firearms confiscated.

Comendador said he believes his legacy is the culture of excellence instilled in the staff and personnel of CPPO and maintaining moral ascendency.

“In all the things we do, we should aim for the best,” he said./CORRESPONDENT CHITO O. ARAGON