The appointment of the next Philippine National Police chief to replace retiring Police Director General Ric Marquez will necessitate generational changes in the PNP. Mayor Duterte had to dig deep into over four Philippine Military Academy classes, in fact, to choose Chief Superintendent Ronald M. Dela Rosa, a member of PMA class of 1986 to be his next PNP chief.
Like the other presidents before him, he selected someone he is familiar with. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa served as Chief of Police of Davao where be blended very well with the style of Mayor Duterte.
This process of bypassing seniors in order to promote a junior is what is called in the service as the process of deep selection. To be fair, this has happened before. The first time was the appointment of the late General Cesar P. Nazareno as PNP chief. He bypassed PMA classes of 1959 and 1960 when President Cory Aquino appointed him.
The other time that this happened was when Recaredo A. Sarmiento II, a member of PMA class of 196, was appointed PNP chief by former President Fidel V. Ramos, also bypassing four PMA classes.
As I have written before, being chosen as the chief of the PNP does not necessarily mean that the one chosen is the best of the lot. The appointment is basically political and is therefore a position of trust and confidence. Until the rule of the game is changed to put more emphasis on merit rather than closeness to the appointing authority, we will be seeing this process repeated in the future.
In the two instances where the process of deep selection was done, the administration of the PNP by the two officers concerned did not turn out so well. General Nazareno was removed from office before retirement and had to face graft charges. In the case of General Sarmiento, his term was basically characterized by his failure to overcome the deeply ingrained upper class tradition of the PMA. He was handicapped by the presence of strong-willed upper classmen belonging to the classes of 1962, 63, 64 and 65.
It would be interesting to see how Ronald De la Rosa will navigate his way and manage the PNP with the presence of all those upperclassmen. Some members of Class 1982 will still
be around until early next year. For the people belonging to the Class of 1983, about five officers will also remain until next year.
It is the class of 1984 that will be hit the hardest. Some of them still have two to three years of service left. But since they backed the losing horse, they know very well what kind of fate awaits them. Most of these officers will most certainly be removed from all the sensitive positions they are holding and be assigned to non-sensitive assignments.
The class of 1985 will be the principal beneficiary of this shift in fortunes. They will now find themselves available for assignments as Regional Directors or members of the all-too-powerful Directorial Staff.
As we can see, even as the leadership keeps on assuring the public of the non-partisanship of the PNP, it is really still a political organization. The fortunes of those who lead and govern it are tied to the political fate of the candidate they support.
This is something that should be stopped if we want our police organization to be truly professional. The number of PMA graduates in the PNP are also dwindling fast. There are now roughly less than 200 of them left. By the end of the term of President Duterte, there will probably just a handful left. When that happens, another era in the history of the police service would have been gone.
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The plan of Mayor Duterte to allow the burial of the late President Ferdinand Marcos at the military cemetery in Fort Bonifacio is once again generating controversy. Former President Joseph Estrada tried to do the same during his time but had to abandon it due to strong opposition coming mainly from the yellow army.
Maybe Mayor Duterte is in a much stronger position politically to implement his plan. If there is anyone to blame why it became difficult for the late President to be buried at the military cemetery, it is probably him. It was he who changed the name of the military cemetery to Libingan ng mga Bayani. This was what was used by his political enemies to deny him burial there since only heroes are supposed to be buried there.
But the Libingan ng mga Bayani is simply a military cemetery where people who served in the Armed Forces of the Philippines for a certain period may in fact be buried. The late President Marcos served in the Armed Forces during the Second World War and is therefore considered a veteran. For that and that alone, he has earned the right to be buried there regardless of what his political enemies are saying.
Mayor Duterte is right in saying that he is allowing the burial, not because Marcos was a hero, but because he served in the Armed Forces.
Besides, perhaps it is time the nation moved beyond Edsa.
I am not particularly a fan of President Marcos. I was at the opposite side in 1986 but that was 30 years ago and it’s time to move on with the nation’s life instead of dwelling on the past.
If Mayor Duterte is the leader that can get this done, this will be another feather on his cap.