Aquino backs OIC, starts looking for new PNP chief

BUSAN, South Korea—Obey the officer in charge, or else.

Amid concerns that the Philippine National Police may now be a “headless body” with the suspension of PNP Director General Alan Purisima, the President said even an OIC has to be followed.

If instructions given by the OIC are not carried out, anyone who defies the order will have to answer for it, Mr. Aquino said.

Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina has been appointed OIC of the PNP while Purisima serves out a six-month suspension while being investigated for an allegedly anomalous firearms license delivery deal.

“He’s [Espina] the head of the PNP at this point. He’s supposed to run [the PNP]. Somebody doesn’t follow him, that person gets removed. Whatever we put in place should not be dependent on any one person,” Mr. Aquino told reporters here.

Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Even a temporary appointee can be an effective leader of the PNP, he said.

However, regardless of the current controversy surrounding Purisima, the President said he was already on the lookout for a new PNP chief because Espina and Purisima’s retirements are coming up next year. Purisima will turn 56 next November.

“So regardless, with or without these issues, we are looking [for a new PNP chief]. We will look at the track record of all the contenders,” he said.

Critical time

The President was responding to a question from reporters here if he was concerned that the PNP was headed only by an OIC and not a permanent director at a critical time when preparations for the January visit of Pope Francis are reaching fever pitch.

Mr. Aquino’s close political ally, Senate President Franklin Drilon, also appealed to him to decide on Purisima’s fate soon.

Drilon said that even if there was an OIC at the PNP, an OIC has limited power to effect changes and reforms, and that it was inevitable that there would be uncertainty because of the PNP chief’s suspension.

The Ombudsman last week ordered that Purisima and other police officials be placed on six months’ preventive suspension while an investigation was going on into their alleged involvement in an anomalous contract in 2012 between the PNP and a courier service for the delivery of gun licenses.

Purisima has denied any involvement in the contract, saying that it was executed more than a year before he was appointed chief of the PNP.

Follow the process

According to Mr. Aquino, Purisima will have to go through the necessary legal processes, including the Ombudsman’s preventive suspension. But like any other citizen, he has the right to defend himself, the President said.

“So, No. 1, we will follow all of the processes and all the procedures mandated by law. No. 2, we also have to recognize that this person has rights that should also be protected,” Mr. Aquino said.

No conflict

As for reports that Purisma continues to occupy the official residence of the PNP chief residence known as the White House, Mr. Aquino said he did not think there was any conflict in that.

“He is not supposed to be leading. He is under suspension. General Espina [is the one] who should be leading,” he said.

He said Purisima had also told him that he was keeping to his quarters.

Defending Purisima

In Purisima’s defense, Mr. Aquino noted that leaders tend to depend on their subordinates and the experts they consult when signing certain contracts, especially if the matters concerned are technical and not easily grasped.

Citing his own experience as an example, he said part of his functions was to sign documents prepared by certain agencies.

He said a possible defense that Purisima might raise was that his role was only ministerial, that somebody else accredited the supplier and he had to implement the deal.

“I will put myself in his place. Will I check all of the papers that pass through me so that the process could begin? Will I be able to handle that?” he asked.

He said he handles almost a meter-tall stack of papers every day. While he meticulously combs through the documents, he said there was no way he could guarantee that nothing had slipped his attention.

Look at overall picture

Mr. Aquino also said that in entering into the deal, Purisima was trying to solve election-related violence in 2013, including the proliferation of unlicensed firearms.

He said delivering the licenses to the residences of the gunowners would serve as another check on the identity of the gunowner, since it would verify if their given addresses were correct.

“I’m trying to look at it from the overall picture. How do you address the systemic issues that led to 60,000 firearms being registered as questionable. If you don’t stop that, then you continue the problem. So this was among the steps they undertook,” he said.

“Was it perfect? People are not perfect. Did he knowingly commit these grievous errors? That is what needs to be proven,” Mr. Aquino said.

But since the Ombudsman found a reason to place Purisima under prevented suspension, he has to comply with this order, Mr. Aquino said.

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