No politics for Espina after leaving PNP

Deputy Director Leonardo Espina. FILE PHOTO

Deputy Director Leonardo Espina said he had no plans of entering politics after he bows out of police service in July.

The PNP officer in charge made this clear when asked if he would run for higher office or accept a position in government.

“I’m really a private person. It’s about time for me to go back to my family,” Espina said in a chance interview at Camp Crame on Monday.

Espina will turn 56, the mandatory retirement age, on July 16. He will retire after more than 20 years of service in PNP.

“I only have 20 years to live, maybe (reach) 76 or 80. It’s about time to see my family and see them well,” he said.

Espina has been the public’s sentimental choice for PNP chief after Director General Alan Purisima was forced to vacate the post in December last year. Both Espina and Purisima were members of the Philippine Military Academy Dimalupig class of 1981.

Since Purisima’s suspension over corruption charges, Espina took over as the OIC of the 150,000-strong police force.

What if the President tapped Espina to lead a government agency?

Espina said, “I don’t know. I’m just an ordinary PNP officer.”