"The message that the appointment is sending is clear."
The Philippine National Police has a new director-general. It is the former chief of the National Capital Region Police Office, Major General Debold Sinas. Think “mañanita.”
On May 8 this year, at the height of the enhanced community quarantine imposed on Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon, many Filipinos were aghast to see pictures of a group of policemen serenading their boss in the early morning hours for his birthday. That boss was Sinas.
What followed was astounding hairsplitting: A “mananita” is not a party, they insisted. It was held at dawn. It was a surprise for him, he said. Dared he turn his thoughtful subordinates away when they only wished him well?
Of course it was a party. There was a line for the buffet—and the men did not even pretend to stand six feet apart. There was cake—and the birthday celebrator blew it quite happily, touched as he was by his cops’ gesture. There were tables and chairs that were obviously not part of one’s everyday furniture—meaning they had been put there in advance. If one looked hard enough, there was even booze, so early in the work day. This was a time when a liquor ban accompanied the lockdown.
Thankfully for the rest of us, somebody from the party had too great a time and felt compelled to post photos on social media, for posterity. If not for this gesture, we would not have learned about how the very people tasked to ensure that everybody complied with the lockdown—painful as it was for our livelihood and, to a less extent, our social lives—consciously flouting the law.
This was a time when ordinary workers could not find the public transportation to take them to the workplace, if they were lucky enough to still have jobs in the first place. It was when we could not see our parents or grandparents, or when we had to endure hours of queues at the supermarket just to buy our daily needs.
The message was clear: Sinas’ team’s job was to enforce the rules—not to follow them.
Despite the display of impunity, Sinas was quick to reap the support of friends. Amid the broad criticism and calls for his transfer, no less than the President defended him. “I am the one who refused to transfer him. He is a good officer, an honest one. It is not his fault that somebody serenaded him for his birthday,” Mr. Duterte said. Regarding the photos showing the attendees wearing no masks, he added: “Of course there was food…it would be odd if they ate the masks.”
“This is on me, he stays there,” the President added, in the face of reminders that Sinas had broken fundamental rules. “I need the guy…I do not believe in firing him just because some people sang ‘happy birthday’ to him.”
Mr. Sinas must have done something substantial to merit this kind of defense and loyalty from the President. And now he will be the boss of all the cops in all the land. We can sit here griping about how his appointment sends all the wrong messages to the people and the police force alike, but as the presidential spokesman has so kindly reminded us, it is always the prerogative of the President.
The country continues to face great uncertainty because of the pandemic. The next days will not be easy especially since more people would need to return to work and might want to gather for the holidays. Meanwhile, despite promising developments in the vaccine race, it would take some time for it to be mass produced and distributed to billions across the globe. Add this to the daily peace and order concerns and the PNP’s standing mandate to protect all citizens.The head of the police must exhibit both competence and credibility.
We imagine Sinas is elated at his appointment. We suggest snapping out of party mode and doing his job well, so well that we might even forget the reputation that preceded him.