Police Gen. Valeriano de Leon, the newly-appointed director of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Civil Security Group (CSG), is said to be one of the leading candidates to replace PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Leazar, who will set to retire on Nov. 13.
In a recent PNP reshuffle, De Leon was transferred to Camp Crame after being replaced by Brig. Gen. Matthew Baccay as the director of the Police Regional Office (PRO) 3.
Other officials included in the reshuffle are Brig. Gen. Orlando Yebra as the new chief of the Eastern Police District (EPD) and Police Colonel Rolando Destura as acting executive
officer of the Directorate for Information and Communication Technology Management.
De Leon is said to be in the running as PNP chief along his mistahs in the “Makatao Class
of 1989” of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) including PNP Deputy Director
for Operations Maj. Gen. Rhodel Sermonia and CIDG chief Brig. Gen.
Albert Ferro. NCRPO chief Brig. Gen. Vicente Danao who is a member of PMA “Sambisig Class of 1991”, is also reportedly in the running.
Sermonia is said to be the bet of Senator Bong Go. Ferro is said to be the bet of Pastor Apollo Quiboloy and former PNP chief Debold Sinas. Danao is personally known by President Duterte and De Leon is known to Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.
De Leon was the deputy director for operations of the Police Regional Office 11. De Leon was also the former chief of the Davao City Police Office and Davao Oriental Police Provincial Office. He led the Special Investigation Task Group when a night market explosion on Sept. 2, 2016, which killed 15 people and injured 69.
Eleven suspected members of the terrorist group Maute Group were found guilty by the Taguig
Regional Trial Court of multiple murders and multiple attempted murders.
De Leon also led the PRO3 and recently received the “Best Police Regional
Office in the Philippines” for his accomplishments, including the killing of four Chinese drug lords in Zambales where authorities recovered more than 500 kilos of shabu estimated to be worth P3.5 billion.
De Leon was the first general in his batch. In 2016, de Leon was named as the “Best Senior Police Commissioned Officer of the Year for Administration.”
