PNP officers up for promotion with retirement of No. 2 man

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Arturo Lomibao is preparing a "short list" of police officers to be promoted with the scheduled retirement of his No. 2 man, Deputy Director General Ricardo de Leon, on Sept. 10.

Lomibao and his staff held a private meeting yesterday to "finalize" the list, which will immediately be forwarded to Malacañang for realignment or approval.

The next reshuffle of officers will take place in November and December when a large number of police officials are set to retire.

The reshuffle will take effect upon the arrival of President Arroyo after her two-week trip to the United States.

Lomibao noted a number of his staff officers traveled out of town over the weekend to prevent politicians and government officials from influencing decisions on whom to promote.

The STAR gathered from sources that with De Leon’s retirement, Lomibao is considering PNP deputy chief for administration Deputy Director General Oscar Calderon as his replacement.

Calderon’s post as deputy chief for operations is said to go to Deputy Director General Avelino Razon Jr.

Also according to sources, Director Isidro Lapena will take over Razon’s post as chief of directorial staff, while his position as head of Directorate for Operations will go to Chief Superintendent Antonio Billones, director of the Southern Mindanao police.

Billones will then be replaced by Chief Superintendent Florante Baguio, the erstwhile chief of the PNP anti-illegal gambling task force.

Chief Superintendent Noe Wong will replace Director Quirino dula Torre, head of the PNP directorate for comptrollership who opted for early retirement, sources said. Dula Torre was scheduled to retire in November.

Wong’s post at the Cordillera Autonomous Region will reportedly be taken over by Chief Superintendent Leonardo Dionisio, deputy chief of the Directorate for Research and Development.

It was also learned from sources that the post of Chief Superintendent Augusto Angcanan, deputy chief for administration of the National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO), will go to PRO8 vice Chief Superintendent Dionisio Coloma, who will move to the office of the National Police Commission (Napolcom).

Chief Superintendent Jaime Lasar’s application for early retirement was reportedly denied by Lomibao. Lasar will stay on as head of the Police Community Relations Group.

NCRPO chief Director Vidal Querol and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) director Chief Superintendent Ricardo Dapat will remain at their respective posts.

The STAR sources claimed two other deputy positions at the PNP directorial staff will also be filled.

The retirement honors for De Leon, a member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class ’71, will take place on Sept. 12. His post as head of the police Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF) will temporarily be taken over by retired police Gen. Edgar Galvante, a director of the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB).

Lasar and Dionisio are classmates of Lomibao at the PMA Class ’72.

Calderon, Lapena, Billones and Angcanan belong to the PMA Class ’73. Calderon is being groomed to replace Lomibao.

Also a candidate for PNP chief, Razon is a member of PMA Class ’74 while Wong and Baguio belong to the PMA Class ’75.