Duterte also considering 2 more generals to be next PNP chief

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte is also considering two more police generals aside from the three names earlier recommended by Interior Secretary Eduardo Año to be the next chief of the 190,000-strong Philippine National Police (PNP).

“May dalawang pangalan na wala sa recommended ang kasama sa considerations, pero ang Pangulo ay nagbibigay din ng importansya sa seniority,” Año told INQUIRER.net on Wednesday.

(There are two names who were not among those I have recommended but are being considered, but the President also gives importance to seniority.)

He refused to identify the two generals or their ranks.

Año, also the chairman of the National Police Commission, has earlier recommended the three highest ranking officials of the PNP to be the 23rd leader of the country’s police force.

They are Lt. Gen. Archie Francisco Gamboa, currently the PNP officer-in-charge and deputy chief for administration; Lt. Gen. Camilo Cascolan, deputy chief for operations; and Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, chief of the directorial staff.

READ: Año endorses 3 names to Duterte for next PNP chief

The change-of-command ceremony for the next PNP chief was initially scheduled on October 29, but no candidate has yet been chosen by the President. The rites were originally set to be conducted along with the retirement honors supposed to be accorded to Gen. Oscar Albayalde, who retired from the police service on November 8.

Under PNP rules, the President may choose any police official with the rank of at least brigadier general—a one-star rank—to head the agency enforcing his campaign against illegal drugs and other crimes.

The general to bag the coveted position will be Duterte’s third appointee for the top cop post, succeeding Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa and Gen. Oscar Albayalde, who has stepped down as PNP chief over three weeks before his retirement amid the issue of alleged drug recycling within the police organization. /je