Cop who nabbed Delfin Lee gets one-star rank

Senior Superintendent Conrad Capa, Philippine National Police Task‎ Force Tugis chief. FILE PHOTO

The senior police officer who led the team that arrested property developer Delfin Lee last year is finally getting his promotion to one-star general.

Chief Supt. Conrado Capa, who is now with the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations in the Visayas, was one of seven police officers promoted on Tuesday to chief superintendent, the equivalent of a one-star military general.

A member of Philippine Military Academy Class of 1985, Capa headed Task Force Tugis which hunted down and arrested Lee who went on the lam after being charged in a multibillion-peso housing scam last year.

Shortly after apprehending Lee, Capa was removed from his post and reassigned to the Visayas. He publicly expressed frustration over his removal, claiming the politically connected Lee was behind it.

Capa was the intelligence officer under former Philippine National Police Director General Alan Purisima when the latter was Central Luzon police director in 2010.

Aside from Capa, also promoted were former PNP spokesperson Chief Supt. Bartolome Tobias, to senior police assistant at the Department of the Interior and Local Government; Chief Supt. Elmer Beltejar, Directorate for Integrated Police Operations in North Luzon;

Chief Supt. Jerome Baxinella, Directorate for Human Resource and Doctrine Development; Chief Supt. Pedro Cabatingan Jr., Internal Affairs Service; Chief Supt. Arnold Gunnacao, Highway Patrol Group, and Chief Supt. Perpetuo Macion, Internal Affairs Service.

Promoted to director, or two-star rank, were two former spokespersons of the PNP—Director Generoso Cerbo Jr. of the Directorate for Intelligence and Director Wilfredo Franco of the Directorate for Police Community Relations.

PNP Director General Ricardo Marquez led the donning of ranks for the nine police generals on Tuesday, after President Aquino approved their promotions.