BAGUIO CITY – Officials of law enforcement agencies must be the first ones to comply with the law in the appointment of chiefs of police and not the first ones to violate such lawful provisions, Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan said here.
Domogan said the Philippine National Police (PNP) is mandated by the law to submit the list of five qualified senior police officers to the local chief executive for the appointment of the vacant position of city director of the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) but for nearly a year now, the list has never reached his office.
It can be recalled that on March 5, 2014, the former BCPO director Senior Superintendent Jesus Cambay was unceremoniously unseated by the PNP leadership and replaced with an officer-in-charge, Senior Superintendent Rolando Miranda.
The local chief executive cited under the law, the officer-in-charge should only be in his position for a maximum period of 30 days.
“The maximum period of 30 days has been long overdue but the much awaited list has not yet reached our office. We do not know what are the plans of the PNP when peace and order initiatives are being compromised,” Domogan stressed.
He added the continuous failure of the PNP to submit the shortlist of qualified senior police officers is a direct affront to the authority bestowed on the local chief executive to appoint the permanent BCPO chief and the clamor of the people of the city through a resolution passed by the city peace and order council (CPOC) requesting the PNP leadership to immediately submit the shortlist of qualified senior officers to the city mayor for the appointment of the next BCPO chief.
“The city is being deprived of the implementation of sustainable peace and order programs in the absence of a permanent BCPO chief. The interest of local governments should not be compromised by such inaction of the PNP leadership,” he said.
Domogan argued the PNP should not use what they described as improved peace and order situation in the city as a descent excuse not to submit the shortlist of qualified police officers to the BCPO post because they are obviously violating and circumventing the law to suit the interest of the PNP leadership.
He expressed disappointment over the repeated failure of the PNP leadership to respond to his several formal inquiries on what is taking the PNP so much time to submit the list of qualified police officers to the city mayor for the appointment of the next BCPO chief.
Domogan pointed out as law enforcers, the PNP must be the first one to comply with what is stated in the law that an officer-in-charge should only serve a maximum of 30 days, but in the case of Miranda, he had already been an officer-in-charge for already 10 months, which is considered gross violation of the law.
“Peace and order is a shared responsibility of everyone that is why we should closely work with each other instead of the PNP trying to get one over the local government. WE are just asserting our right as enshrined in the law and not for any other purpose. We no longer need excuses because the shortlist is already overdue,” Domogan stressed.
By Dexter A. See
