Lipana new San Juan City police chief

San Juan City will have a new chief of police starting today in the person of Superintendent Procopio Lipana.

Lipana, the commander of the Cubao police station in Quezon City, will replace Superintendent Eduardo Lorenzo, who is set to retire in March next year.

Eastern Police District (EPD) director Chief Superintendent Leon Nilo de la Cruz said San Juan City Mayor Joseph Victor Ejercito has given Lipana the green light to assume the post as the city’s police chief starting today.

“After the traditional flag-raising ceremony at the EPD, I will motor to San Juan City to install Lipana to his new post,” De la Cruz told The Star.

A be-medaled police officer, Lipana’s appointment is reportedly being backed by the powerful sect Iglesia ni Cristo.

Lipana’s assumption to his new post has the go-signal of the Camp Crame-based Senior Officers Placement and Promotions Board (SOPPB) headed by Deputy Director General Jesus Versoza, the deputy chief for administration of the Philippine National Police. However, some observers noted that Lipana’s assumption to his new post is not in consonance with the PNPs transformation program calling for the assignment of senior superintendents (full colonel in the military) to police stations in the cities of Metro Manila.

Earlier, the PNP leadership advised the mayors of the cities of Parañaque, Pasig and Taguig that their police chiefs are overstaying in their posts and have to be relieved immediately and replaced with senior superintendents.

As envisioned by the PNP leadership, all police chiefs of the cities in Metro Manila and other cities in the country should be ranked senior superintendents in the near future.

Because of this PNP policy, the SOPPB has stricken out the names of the police superintendents from the list of candidates to replace the chief of police of Parañaque, Pasig and Taguig.

A number of police officials told The Star that the double standard is blatant in the appointment of Lipana as the new police chief of the San Juan City police.

“We have nothing against Lipana because we know him as a hardworking police officer,” said the police officials. “ What we are against is the blatant disregard of the rules and regulations set by the PNP leadership themselves with regard to the appointment of police officers in police stations in cities and other posts.”

The police officials noted that the SOPPB is “toothless’ with regard to the intervention of powerful sects in its job.  – Non Alquitran