6 more months for Aglipay

President Arroyo has extended the term of newly sworn-in Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Deputy Director General Edgar Aglipay for six months.

Aglipay was supposed to serve only for three weeks, until Sept. 13 when he turns 56 years old, the mandatory retirement age.

The President announced yesterday her decision to extend Aglipay’s tour of duty as she adopted anew her "revolving door" policy in promoting retirable generals to the highest post in the PNP and the military.

Mrs. Arroyo made the announcement in her speech at the turnover rites where Aglipay formally took over from his predecessor, Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., at the PNP parade grounds at Camp Crame in Quezon City.

"I believe having a lawyer like General Aglipay at the helm of the PNP can do much in the professionalization and institutionalization of our reforms," the President said.

"For this reason, I’m extending the term of the PNP chief (by) six months. This will enable him to get our plans off the ground, institutionalize our gains in law enforcement and have a strong start on things that have to be done to truly professionalize our police force," Mrs. Arroyo added.

Aglipay, for his part, took office with a stern warning to errant cops: abusive officers will be banished to an island for retraining and corrupt ones will be immediately locked up in jail.

He also ordered the country’s 114,000-strong police force to crack down on crime and terrorists, and improve the police image by keeping fit, greeting people and avoiding the swagger of street toughies.

Aglipay ordered all police stations to make an inventory of all unsolved crimes in the last three years and a list of wanted criminals and gangs in their areas within a week. Those stations should be able to arrest at least five out of every 100 wanted criminals or gangs and solve at least five of every 100 unsolved crimes each month, he said.

Aglipay also began to work on improving the image of the police. Filipino police officers have long been regarded as corrupt, sloppily dressed with overhanging bellies and inspiring fear rather than security.

"Lazy, abusive, rude and undisciplined policemen would be brought to Corregidor, or in far-flung regions, to reform," he said, referring to the historic island at the mouth of Manila Bay, where he said a police reformatory school would be built to retrain errant cops.

Aglipay ordered police personnel to trim down their waistlines and wear their uniform properly.

"Don’t smoke, unbutton your shirt or swagger like a street toughie when in uniform," he said. He asked police to address people as "ma’am" or "sir" and lavish people on the street with courteous greetings.

In line with the government’s austerity program due to a huge budget deficit, Aglipay said police officials would be served only crackers, coffee or water, and cheap meals during conferences.

"I also request that you should refrain from giving me gifts," he said. "Your best gift would be your good service to our people."

Before she announced her decision to extend Aglipay’s tour of duty, Mrs. Arroyo praised his exploits at length, apparently to justify her decision to prolong his stay as the country’s top cop.

"General Aglipay comes in with a sterling record of operational achievements, especially in fighting drugs and destabilizers," she said.

The President cited Aglipay’s successful stint under her administration as National Capital Region Police Office chief and later as head of the PNP’s anti-illegal drugs task force.

"But I believe that Egay does deserve to be chief of PNP because I know what must be done in the PNP in the next six years ... I know that Egay would be a good man to start the (reforms) I want to have at the PNP," she said. "I’m sure he will be even more successful as head of the whole PNP."

Mrs. Arroyo reiterated her "marching orders" for Aglipay to carry out reforms recommended by the PNP Reform Commission, which investigated the controversial escapes from prison of high-profile crime lords during Ebdane’s watch.

"These are my marching orders: make us more secure, help strengthen our families, stamp out the culture of corruption, stop the scourge of drugs, wipe out terrorism," she told the PNP.

The President expressed her satisfaction that the priorities Aglipay had spelled out conform with her 10-point program of governance. She noted his commitment to increase police visibility, take out crime syndicates all over the country, institutionalize the seamless weave of intelligence enforcement negotiation, and implement the preventive aspects of the anti-drug campaign by helping out-of-school youths and jobless young Filipinos to avail of the emergency employment program.

Mrs. Arroyo instructed Aglipay to coordinate with the Metro Manila Development Authority and the National Road Board to employ these youths in road maintenance jobs.

Ebdane sworn in

Mrs. Arroyo, assisted by Interior and Local Government Secretary Angelo Reyes, conferred yesterday the Legion of Honor on Ebdane, who opted for early retirement from the police service after he accepted his new civilian assignment as national security adviser.

The President swore Ebdane into office yesterday at the same venue, replacing Norberto Gonzales who is now her presidential chief of staff.

"I congratulate Jun Ebdane as one of the longest PNP chiefs to serve. Jun Ebdane leaves a legacy of the many things which he mentioned in his speech, he leaves a legacy of the most extensive personal intelligence network in the country," she said.

Mrs. Arroyo said Ebdane "built this extensive intelligence network, not in the two years he was chief of PNP but over the many years since his days as a junior officer."

She explained that his "vast intelligence network" prompted her to consider him for the post of national security adviser.

"Intelligence networks do not attach to a position, they attach to the person. They come from interpersonal relationships," the President said.

She said Ebdane’s "vast intelligence network" should help him a lot in his new post so he can continue the government’s all-out war against local and international terrorist groups.

"I shall rely much on our national security adviser to link up law enforcement to the imperatives of economic and political stability. But I shall also rely just as much on our new PNP chief to bring law enforcement, as Secretary Reyes said, to new heights of achievements and professionalism," the President said.

She attributed the government’s success in its anti-terror campaign to Ebdane’s intelligence network, and the "all-time low of kidnap activities in the country" to the teamwork between Ebdane and Reyes, who was chief of the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force.

The task force was disbanded last month after the President announced that kidnap-for-ransom activities have been virtually eliminated.

Mrs. Arroyo also said Ebdane’s intelligence network is an "important guide" in her decisions on the peace process with Muslim communities in Mindanao.

"I don’t want that vast network to go to waste, to fade into the sunset. I have asked Jun to carry this legacy to the office of the national security adviser where policy and international linkages mark the name of the game," she said. — With Marichu Villanueva, AP