Espina has resigned as PNP-OIC—source

PNP OIC Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina. LYN RILLON / INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina has resigned as officer in charge of the 150,000-strong Philippine National Police.

Espina tendered his resignation in March, INQUIRER.net learned from a well-placed source, who asked not to be named for lack of authority to speak on the matter.

However, President Benigno Aquino III has yet to accept the resignation, the source, a ranking police official, said.

Espina’s resignation was prior to his promotion as the deputy chief for administration, the second man in the PNP’s chain of command. The promotion was effective Tuesday, April 14.

READ: While PNP remains headless, Napolcom gives Espina extra power

Before being named as PNP OIC, Espina served as the deputy chief for operations, the third in the PNP chain of command.

“He just wants the President to exercise his prerogative to appoint an acting PNP chief,” the police official said.

“It was a very noble act on the part of OIC Espina,” he added.

While Espina has yet to receive word from the President, the source said he remained as the OIC of the police force.

INQUIRER.net tried to get an official statement from Espina and PNP spokesperson Chief Superintendent Generoso Cerbo Jr., but they have not responded as of posting.

But in a text message Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma shared to the media, Cerbo said there is no PNP record yet on Espina’s resignation.

“On media queries relative to the same, I answered na si OIC Espina lang mismo ang makakapag confirm n’yan kung totoo man. I added that, officially, walang ganyan on record sa PNP. FYI po (I answered that only OIC Espina can confirm its veracity. I added that, officially, there is no record yet in the PNP),” Cerbo told Coloma.

Espina took over the leadership of the PNP in December 2014 when now-resigned PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima was suspended over an allegedly anomalous courier service deal in 2011 to deliver firearms licenses.

Purisima resigned as the PNP chief in February, days after the tragic police operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, where 44 police commandos, 17 Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters and three civilians were killed. CB, IDL

READ: Purisima breaks silence, explains resignation | FULL TEXT PNP chief Alan Purisima’s resignation letter

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