Eleazar named new NCRPO chief

Guillermo Eleazar

The Philippine National Police chief on Friday ordered a major reorganization of the PNP’s top command and named Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar as officer in charge of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO).

Eleazar, the current Calabarzon police director, will replace outgoing NCRPO chief Camilo Pancratius Cascolan, who was appointed head of the PNP Civil Security Group.

Surprise

The reassignment of Eleazar and Cascolan were met with some surprise, as both had been in their respective posts for only around two months.

At least 28 top police officials will be reshuffled based on the performance assessments by an oversight committee.

Chief Supt. John Bulalacao, current PNP spokesperson and head of the Police Community Relations office, was named chief of the Western Visayas police.

Earlier this week, PNP chief Director General Oscar Albayalde  told a media forum that the first reshuffle of PNP officials under his term was forthcoming.

He said a PNP oversight committee had warned “those whose performance were below par, and those not aligned with our program thrusts.”

However, Albayalde clarified that not all of the PNP officers to be reshuffled would “necessarily be a nonperformer.”

“There are some who will retire, some who are retirable, some who have [already spent the] two years [tour of duty] in their posts,” Albayalde explained.

Three retiring

At least three police directors are  retiring in the next few months. Cascolan, a two-star general, was seen most fit to replace retiring Director Federico Dulay.

Eleazar will be replaced by Chief Supt. Edward Carranza, who in turn will be replaced as Cordillera police head by Chief Supt. Rolando Nana.

Bulalacao will replace Chief Supt. Cesar Hawthorne Binag, who will head the Directorate for Information and Communications Technology Management, replacing retiring Director Napoleon Taas.

Bulalacao’s erstwhile  post will be taken over by Senior Supt. Benigno Durana.