43 police generals retiring this year

MANILA, Philippines - At least 43 police generals, including Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Jesus Verzosa, are retiring this year.

Verzosa, a member of Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class ’76, is set to retire on Dec. 25 upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 56.

The retirement of Verzosa and company would give qualified and well-accomplished senior police officials a crack at sensitive positions at the PNP.

But unlike the retirement of Armed Forces chief Gen. Victor Ibrado, which triggered intense lobbying among senior military officials, the retirement of Verzosa is barely discussed at Camp Crame and other police headquarters all over the country.

“There is loud noise in our counterparts in the military because President Arroyo has the final say on whether to extend or not the term of Gen. Ibrado while Verzosa’s fate lies in the hands of the incoming president,” an observer said.

This early, however, there are four candidates being groomed to replace Verzosa – Chief Superintendent Perfecto Palad, head of the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations (DIPO) in Southern Luzon; Director Raul Bacalzo of the Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management; Director Roberto Rosales of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO); and Director Raul Castañeda of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

Palad and Bacalzo belong to PMA Class ’77 while Rosales and Castaneda are from PMA Class ’78, in which Mrs. Arroyo is an adopted member.

Of the presidential hopefuls, Sen. Manny Villar of the Nacionalista Party is an honorary member of PMA Class ’77 while Lakas-Kampi standard-bearer Gilbert Teodoro is with PMA Class ’76.

A ranking police official, however, pointed out that the next president could choose anybody who is senior and qualified, not necessarily among the four candidates, as Verzosa’s replacement.

Barias’ retirement

Actually, it is not Verzosa’s retirement that is being talked about at Camp Crame nowadays but that of his deputy chief for administration, Deputy Director General Geary Barias, and the latter’s three classmates from PMA Class 75.

Barias is set to retire on March 1, while his classmates who are twins, Directors Ronald Roderos of the Police Community Relations Group and Ray Roderos of DIPO-Visayas, retire on March 2, and Director Teodorico Capuyan of the Directorate for Plans on March 25.

The retirement of Barias and his classmates would trigger a new round of reshuffle in the PNP.

It is widely expected that Deputy Director General Jefferson Soriano will take over Barias’ post while Deputy Director General Eduardo Acuña will get the post of Soriano as deputy chief for operations.

There is talk that the post of Acuña in the Chief Directorial Staff is a toss-up between Palad and Bacalzo, who are both set to retire next year.

Majority of police officials scheduled to retire this year belong to PMA Classes ’75, ’76, and ’77 and a few from Class ’78.

Acuña and Soriano, who are both mistahs of Verzosa, are scheduled to retire on Aug. 1 and Nov. 11, respectively.

Their retirement is months ahead of the PNP chief’s, thus closing the door on their chances to replace their classmate.

The first to go among Verzosa’s staff was Director Sukarno Ikbala, who retired last Feb. 7.

Ikbala’s post as head of the Directorate for Human Resource and Doctrine Development was inherited by Chief Superintendent Danilo Abarsoza, erstwhile head of the Philippine National Police Academy.

Retiring directors

Directors Andres Caro II of the Directorate for Operations will retire on April 12; Magtanggol Gatdula of the Directorate for Information and Communication Technology Management on June 3; Eugene Martin of the Directorate for Intelligence on Aug. 7; Abner Cabalquinto of the Directorate for Personnel and Records Management on Oct. 9; Luizo Ticman of the Directorate for Logistics on Oct. 10, and Romeo Hilomen of the Directorate for Comptrollership on Dec. 16.

Directors Felizardo Serapio of DIPO-Western Mindanao, and Eric Javier, a West Point graduate and head of DIPO-Northern Luzon, will retire on June 13 and Aug. 15, respectively.  

In the PNP’s National Support Units, retiring are Chief Superintendents Teofilo Melliza of the Computer Service on March 16; Danilo Gaoiran of the Security Agency and Guards Supervision Division on June 1; Benedict Fokno of the Engineering Service on Oct. 4; Edwin Corvera of the Aviation Security Group on Dec. 10; and Orlando Mabutas of the Highway Patrol Group on Dec. 13.

In the PNP regional offices, meanwhile, retiring are Chief Superintendents Orlando Pestaño of the Cordillera Administrative Region on April 6; Danilo Empedrad of Region 10 on May 2; Roberto Damian of Region 2 on May 3; Constante Azares of Region 1 on June 22; Isagani Cuevas of Region 6 on June 27; Paul Mascariñas of Region 4-B on Sept. 1; Lino Calingasan of Region 13 on Sept. 23; and Angelo Sunglao of Region 9 on Oct. 11.

The lone retiree this year among the five directors of the National Capital Regional Police Office is Chief Superintendent Elmo San Diego of the Quezon City Police District. He is set to retire on June 7.

The STAR learned that the other retiring police generals are sitting as deputies of various PNP commands all over the country.