PNP chief to retire early

PALO, Leyte, Philippines – Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Jesus Verzosa is expected to retire from the service in two months, ahead of his scheduled retirement in December.

Verzosa’s classmates in the Philippine Military Academy (PMA)’s Class ‘76 who occupy key positions in the PNP will also retire months ahead of their 56th birthday, the mandatory retirement age for police officers.

“It was a general consensus because we are taking the cue from the PNP chief. I am almost sure that the PNP chief will go ahead of his time,” said PNP Deputy Director General Jefferson Soriano in his speech during the turn over of command of the Eastern Visayas Police Regional Office (Region 8) in Camp Kangleon here.

Verzosa is one of the few appointees of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who was retained by President Aquino because of valuable service to the government especially during the May 10 national and local elections.

Soriano, who is also the deputy chief for administration, said their collective decision to retire early was not caused by any pressure but to allow younger officers to lead the police force.

“There’s no pressure, we only want to leave a legacy in the PNP to be the first (PMA) class to go ahead of the time (of our retirement),” Soriano said. “Our early retirement and the assumption of younger officers to top positions in the PNP will make the institution more stable.”

Soriano, however, declined to give Verzosa’s exact date of retirement. He said, however, that he would retire on Aug. 15, three months ahead of his 56th birthday on Nov. 11.

Soriano said Director Cabalquinto, head of the PNP Directorate for Personnel and Records Management (DPRM), and Director Luizo Ticman, chief of the PNP Directorate for Logistics, would be off duty effective Sept. 15.

Verzosa’s 56th birthday is on Dec. 25. There are speculations that he would step down on Sept. 15 to give way to his successor Director Raul Bacalzo.

Director Romeo Hilomen, meanwhile, was effectively retired last July 1. He used to head the PNP Directorate for Comptrollership, which was taken over by Chief Superintendent Reynaldo Lañada, a member of PMA Class ‘79.

“We are confident they (younger officers) will be able to continue what we have started,” Soriano said. “The younger generation will have to take over the leadership, and we challenge them to do better than we did.”

Under Verzosa’s leadership, the PNP received an unprecedented high approval rating of 70 percent in a recent survey.