BAGUIO CITY – Mauricio G. Domogan claimed local government should not be made to suffer the consequences of having hired allegedly over ranked senior police officers as police chiefs in their respective areas of jurisdiction because the Philippine National Police (PNP) is the one that provides the shortlist of qualified senior police officers from which local executives chose their police chiefs which come at a most delayed time.
The local chief executive said the inability of the PNP to immediately submit to the local government the shortlist will eventually make those officers in the shortlist over ranked. This gives the PNP a reason to unceremoniously relieve the sitting police chief and replace him or her with an officer-in-charge who cannot actually perform well for fear of being replaced anytime.
“We should not be blamed if we will select an over ranked police officer to be our police chief because the shortlist of the qualified senior police officers has not been submitted to us within the prescribed period,” Domogan stressed.
In the case of former Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) chief Senior Superintendent Jesus Cambay who was unceremoniously relieved from his post in March 2014, the Mayor revealed the shortlist for his replacement was only submitted to him on June 10, 2016.
Ironically, the officer-in-charge, who was not the choice of the local government, occupied his post at BCPO from March 5, 2014, to January 8, 2016, or nearly two years, but was again replaced by another officer-in-charge who happened to be former BCPO chief Senior Superintendent George D. Daskeo.
Daskeo, who was included in the shortlist of qualified senior police officers screened by the committee created by Domogan to be the next BCPO chief, was eventually conferred City Director in July 2016. Barely two months after confinement, Daskeo, in turn, was unceremoniously relieved for reportedly being over ranked.
“Why will local governments suffer the consequences of the defective system in the PNP in the release of the shortlist of qualified senior police officers? The ultimate solution to the present impasse is for the PNP to comply with the provisions of the law that an officer-in-charge of a police office will only be good for 30 days,” Domogan lamented.
It has already been more than a month since the current BCPO officer-in-charge was put in his position amidst the strong opposition from the city but the PNP has not yet made available the desired shortlist from where the screening committee will select the next BCPO permanent chief.
Domogan reiterated his previous appeal to the PNP to already shortlist the applicants and submit the approved shortlist to the city the soonest so that the screening committee will be convened to conduct the screening for the next BCPO chief.
By Dexter A. See
