BAGUIO CITY—The Baguio City Peace and Order, Justice and Human Rights Committee has passed a resolution requesting the leadership of the Philippine National Police to immediately submit to Mayor Mauricio Domogan the shortlist of qualified senior police officers for the next Director of the Baguio City Police Office.
The committee, chaired by Domogan, enacted the resolution after the unceremonious relief of Senior Superintendent George D. Daskeo, who was duly screened and selected by the screening committee as the permanent BCPO chief in June 2016.
The resolution said that the absence of a permanent police chief “has derailed the implementation of long-term peacekeeping, anti-criminality and anti-terrorism campaign in the city over the past several months.”
The status of Senior Superintendent Ramil Saculles as officer-in-charge of the BCPO “is not a guarantee on the effective and efficient implementation of peacekeeping and anti-criminality initiatives to make sure that the city will be a worthy place to work, study, live and do business.”
In March 2014, Senior Superintendent Jesus D. Cambay, who was also selected by the screening committee created by Domogan to be the permanent BCPO chief, was unceremoniously relieved from his post and replaced with Senior Superintendent Rolando F. Miranda, who served as officer-in-charge of BCPO until January 2016.
Daskeo was installed as BCPO officer-in-charge in January 2016 before he was selected by the screening committee chaired by the mayor as the permanent Baguio police chief in June 2016.
However, on Sept. 30, 2016, Daskeo was relieved from his post as he was reportedly “over-ranked” for the position. He was reassigned to the PNP national headquarters “without the position promised him in exchange for his relief,” the Domogan-led committee said.
The mayor said it is better for the committee to have passed the resolution to air the local government’s disappointment over the spate of abrupt reliefs BCPO chiefs to avoid the perception that he is the one interested to have a change in the BCPO leadership.
The selection of the BCPO chief lies with the mayor, Domogan stressed, and that the maximum period for an officer-in-charge to stay in his post is only 30 days, “thus, the PNP has been constantly violating its own law.”
The committee wants a permanent BCPO chief to be appointed “because it is the sustainability of the peace and order programs that are being jeopardized with the fast transition in police officers to be assigned in the local police force,” he said.
Once the shortlist is available, Domogan will reconvene the screening committee with the necessary criteria to select the next BCPO chief “because Baguio does not deserve a police official on an OIC or acting capacity as he will not be effective in the implementation of peacekeeping strategies.”
