30 police chiefs to be reassigned

At least 30 provincial police directors will be relieved of their posts to ensure the impartiality of all police officers in the coming May elections, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Oscar Calderon said yesterday.

Overstaying provincial directors "will be reassigned to prevent politicians in their respective areas from using (these PNP) officials) in their favor," Calderon said at the Talakayan sa Isyu ng Pulis (TSIP) forum in Camp Crame, Quezon City.

He said at the same forum that provincial directors who have been in their posts for a long time tend to develop "familiarity with the politicians."

Calderon said the reassignments will be announced next week by the PNP leadership, which is now in the process of assessing the performance and tenure of each police regional director.

He said the reshuffle of police provincial directors will be announced before Jan. 14, the start of the campaign period for the midterm elections. Police provincial directors who have held their posts for over two years will be affected by the reshuffle.

Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno and the National Police Commission (Napolcom) has directed Calderon and the members of the Senior Officers Placement and Promotions Board to finalize the reassignments of the provincial police directors soon.

Calderon said the reshuffle is designed to ensure the impartiality of every PNP officer by relieving long-serving provincial police commanders and replacing them with new officers who cannot be used by incumbent local chief executives vying for various electoral posts in the May polls.

Under the law, mayors and governors have the last say in the selection of provincial directors, chiefs of police and regional directors assigned to their areas before and after elections.

However, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the PNP can replace any commander without the approval of the local chief executives depending on the political exigency prevalent in the areas where such changes are being made during the election period.