Appointment of new Bulacan top cop recalled

MANILA, Philippines - The appointment of the new director of the Bulacan provincial police was recalled four hours after the turnover ceremony on Friday.

Senior Superintendent Bartolome Bustamante assumed the command at around 2 p.m. replacing Senior Superintendent Joel Orduna.

But by 6 p.m., Bustamante had to vacate the post as the Philippine National Police (PNP) recalled his appointment.

The post was given back to Orduna.

Chief Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac, spokesperson for the PNP, justified the incident saying some procedures were overlooked.

“The reason is purely administrative matters. There are some procedures that were not followed,” said Sindac.

A source said politics could be behind the incident.

“Why would you allow a turn over of command when the administrative matters were not yet ironed out. This could be one of the examples of bata-bata system,” the source said.

Under the law, when a provincial director is relieved, one of the officials of the Bulacan or Central Luzon regional police should take over as acting provincial police director.

Before his four-hour stint as Bulacan police director, Bustamante was assigned at the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

Orduna’s supposed relief was believed to have stemmed from the two ambush incidents in Paombong and Malolos.