Verzosa admits plan to retire early

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Jesus Verzosa confirmed yesterday that he plans to avail of early retirement ahead of his 56th birthday on Dec. 25.

Verzosa, however, refused to disclose when he would officially bow out of the service.

He still has 142 days in the police service before he turns 56, the mandatory retirement age for police and military personnel.

“It’s hard to have a turnover of command on Christmas Day; definitely, it will be earlier,” Verzosa told The STAR.

The PNP chief said he is excited to spend Christmas and his birthday as a civilian with his family.

“I’m looking forward to spending Christmas and my birthday at home with my family as a private person,” Verzosa noted.

Verzosa also gave assurance that PNP’s projects and programs will be implemented.

“For now I’m busy in the implementation of our anti-criminality, anti-terror, various peace and order initiatives and transformation programs. In fact, I will be flying to western Mindanao (on Friday),” Verzosa added.

Deputy Director General Jefferson Soriano, Verzosa’s classmate at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class 1976 and the No. 2 man in the PNP, disclosed that they are finalizing their plan to leave the police organization prior to their official retirement dates.

“The time (in the PNP) is up for us, we will give younger officers the chance to lead, but our challenge for them is to sustain what we have started,” Soriano said.

He said the police organization would become stronger if they would go ahead of our retirement date.

Soriano clarified that their consensus to retire earlier than scheduled would give President Aquino the chance to implement the reorganization in the PNP.

Verzosa is one of the few appointees of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who was retained by Mr. Aquino because of his valuable service to the government especially during the May 10 elections.

Soriano said their early retirement would not distract the President from his programs in the government.

“Our belief is he should be looking at the PNP and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as two agencies of the government that help ensure stability to the country.

“Our early retirement would prevent speculations on who would be the next PNP chief, which might cause division among aspiring police officers,” Soriano added.

Soriano, reported to be the choice of the President to head the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), said they would still help the government even in retirement.

There are reports that Director Raul Bacalzo, the No. 4-man in the PNP being the chief of Directorial Staff, would replace Verzosa as PNP chief. – With Christina Mendez