Barbers seeks director general rank for Lacson

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Deputy Director General Panfilo Lacson should hold the rank of director general in accordance with law, Sen. Robert Barbers said yesterday.

Barbers urged yesterday the National Police Commission (Napolcom) to declare former PNP chief Director General Santiago Aliño retired from the service and recommend to President Estrada that the rank be given to Lacson.

Alino continues to hold the rank despite his relief as PNP chief after the President assumed office in 1998.

Under the law that created the PNP, the rank of director general can only be held by one police officer at a time.

Barbers said two persons cannot simultaneously hold the position of PNP chief and the rank of director general.

"Aliño can no longer legally hold on as director general since the said rank is explicitly vested by law to the head of the PNP, and therefore, attached to and inseparable from the position of the chief PNP," he said.

The law provides: "the head of the PNP with the rank of director general shall have the position title of chief of the PNP," he added.

He said former PNP chief Raul Imperial figured in a similar situation after being appointed to replace Cesar Nazareno. As a solution, the Napolcom declared Nazareno retired from the service, and recommended that Imperial be promoted to director general.

Barbers said Lacson's promotion to director general would give him the moral ascendancy to pursue his fight against scalawags in the service.

Lacson would also gain the momentum in his campaign against the eradication of all forms of criminality, he added.

Barbers, who is chairman of the Senate committee on public order and illegal drugs, was a former secretary of interior and local government.