Albayalde names ‘mistah’ as new top Metro Manila cop

Incoming Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Dir. Oscar Albayalde has named a “mistah” or a classmate at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) as his successor at the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO).

Albayalde, who is set to assume as the country’s top cop on Thursday, said Directorate for Operations chief Director Camilo Pancratius Cascolan would be succeeding him at the NCRPO.

Cascolan is Albayalde’s “mistah” at the PMA Sinagtala Class of 1986. Cascolan’s appointment also triggered a minor reshuffle at the national police.

Calabarzon Police Regional Office director Chief Superintendent Ma. O Aplasca replaces Cascolan as head of the PNP Directorate for Operations while Quezon City Police District (QCPD) director Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar would be replacing Aplasca as Calabarzon police director, Albayalde said.

“Of course there will be reshuffle diyan dahil nag-trigger yan don sa pagtanggal ko sa NCR,” Albayalde said in a television interview.

Meanwhle, Chief Supt. Joselito Esquivel, executive officer of the PNP Directorate for Intelligence, takes over as the new QCPD director.

Albayalde admitted that although there is always pressure to assign his classmates to key PNP leadership posts, the appointment decision is not made by him alone but by the whole oversight committee he had formed.

“Meron akong tinatawag na parang oversight committee dito, parang meron kami, we deliberate on the performance ng mga tao, even yung mga classmates namin,” he said.

(We have an oversight committee wherein we deliberate on the performance of the officials, even our classmates.)

“Pero just the same, tinitignan pa rin namin yung history niya, kung ano ba ang experience niya, skills niya over the years magmula nang pumasok siya sa service,” he added.

(But just the same, we still look into his background, his experience, skills over the years since he entered the service.)

Albayalde said Cascolan, the youngest in their batch, is qualified for the position as he had been assigned in various positions in Mindanao, including as Compostela Valley provincial director.

The incoming PNP chief also denied that a certain “Davao Group” had lobbied for Eleazar’s NCRPO appointment, which he said, not even President Rodrigo Duterte can do.

“No, actually no…not even the President. In fairness to the President, I reported to him two days back, ang sabi niya hinding hindi siya makikialam sa positioning ng mga tao. Sabi nga niya kung may tatawag diyan gamit ang pangalan niya, ‘wag kang maniwala diyan, sabi niya,” he said.

(He said that he would never meddle in the positioning of the people. He said that I should not believe people who would call me and drop his name)   /muf