Feuding heads of PNPA, PPSC replaced

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino has ordered the replacement of the feuding heads of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) and the Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC).

PNPA director Chief Superintendent Noel Constantino and PPSC president Ruben Platon stepped down from their posts on orders of the President on April 3, said Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman Chief Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac.

Constantino was replaced by Chief Superintendent Armando Ramolete, former deputy director of the PNP’s Directorate for Personnel and Records Management (DPRM).

Sindac said Constantino will take over Ramolete’s previous post at the DPRM.

Platon, on the other hand, was replaced by retired police Deputy Director General Ricardo de Leon.

De Leon, a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1971, was former president of the Mindanao State University and former vice president of the Centro Escolar University.

According to Sindac, Constantino’s appointment as PNPA director was terminated following an extension of six months.

“He was reassigned back to his former post as deputy director of DPRM at the PNP headquarters,” Sindac said.

Constantino’s term was supposed to have ended on Oct. 3, 2013.

During the graduation rites of the PNPA’s Mandilaab Class of 2014 on March 31 in Silang, Cavite, the President expressed dismay over the squabble between the leadership of the PNPA and PPSC, which exercises administrative supervision over the police academy.

“Can I take this opportunity to remind all stakeholders involved here that you all have one mission: to take good care of the cadets, train them well, and that you all should lead by example,” Aquino told a news briefing at the PNPA grounds.