Soria won’t get old post – PNP

MANILA, Philippines - A police official who incurred the ire of government officials for saying that the death toll for Super Typhoon Yolanda could reach 10,000 will not get his old post back, contrary to earlier reports, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said yesterday.

Former Police Regional Office 8 (PRO8) director Chief Superintendent Elmer Soria may get another assignment but “definitely it will not be his old post,” where he experienced an “acute stress reaction” after witnessing the devastation wrought by Yolanda, Deputy Director General Felipe Rojas Jr. said.

He issued the clarification amid reports on social media that Soria would soon be reinstated to his former post after a stress debriefing in Camp Crame.

Soria is currently undergoing stress debriefing and reporting to the office of PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima. He will then face the Senior Officers Placement and Promotion Board, “whose members would determine the next assignment best suited to him,” said Rojas, who will chair the SOPPB.

Not functioning

Rojas explained that Soria was relieved as PRO8 chief because “he was not functioning as police commander due to the trauma he suffered for witnessing the wrath of Yolanda” and not due to his announcement that at least 10,000 people were killed in the storm.

Rojas said he led a police contingent dispatched to Tacloban City to prevent the looting of malls in the area and personally talked to Soria, who was “not his usual self and gave incoherent answers to my questions.”

According to Rojas, Soria was with his four-year-old adopted daughter at his quarters on a mountaintop when Yolanda struck last Nov. 8. Soria and his daughter survived but his living quarters’ roof was blown away and the building damaged.

“He (Soria) was also a survivor and in a state of shock. His first-hand inspections of the devastated areas stressed him further so we decided that he should be pulled out to get some rest,” Rojas said.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas ordered Soria’s relief and replacement by Chief Superintendent Henry Lozañes, the erstwhile head of the PNP’s Maritime Command.

It was earlier reported that Soria earned the ire of President Aquino for stating that 10,000 people died due to Yolanda, contrary to the 2,500 death toll released by the government.

As of this weekend, the casualty figure of Yolanda was placed at 5,560. Because the death toll is rising everyday as rescuers have reached the far- flung areas of Eastern Visayas, a move to reinstate Soria to his old post is gathering strong support among netizens.