UNA wary of LP-backed PNP chief

MANILA, Philippines–The United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) on Thursday warned the administration against appointing the rumored favored candidate of the Liberal Party (LP) as the new director general of the Philippine National Police.

Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco, UNA interim president, said doing so would only perpetuate the same “bata-bata (patronage) system” that spawned the likes of disgraced PNP chief Alan Purisima, who was forced to resign in the aftermath of the Jan. 25 Mamasapano debacle.

In a statement, Tiangco assailed the LP for reportedly lobbying for the appointment of Deputy General Marcelo Garbo Jr. as the new PNP chief to further the party’s interests in the 2016 elections.

He said it seemed the LP and the Aquino administration were bent on institutionalizing “KKK,” or “kaibigan, kaklase, kamag-anak,” referring to the President’s tendency to appoint his friends, former classmates or family members to key government positions.

“If that system prevails, whoever is chosen will still be in the mold of Purisima in the sense that he is loyal not to his uniform and the Constitution but to his patron. And how many lives will be sacrificed just like in Mamasapano all in the name of political patronage?” Tiangco said.

Aquino on Monday met with Garbo and PNP officer in charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina, the two police officials considered to be the top contenders to replace Purisima, a close friend of the President.

Also rumored to be in the running for the top PNP post is Director Benjamin Magalong, chief of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.