Top cop warns ‘laggard’ police chiefs

Lieutenant General Archie Francisco Gamboa, Philippine National Police (PNP) officer-in-charge, visits Camp Delgado in Iloilo City, the headquarters of Police Regional Office (PRO)-6, Friday. (Jennifer P. Rendon)

By: Jennifer P. Rendon 

Philippine National Police (PNP) officer-in-charge Lieutenant General Archie Francisco Gamboa announced on Friday that regional directors, national support units command, and even the directorial, will be reshuffled if they fail to shape up.

But all is not yet lost for the laggards.

Gamboa said field commanders have until Jan. 20, 2020 to catch up.

He said they have developed a basis for the evaluation of field commanders.

“The police regional directors and directors of national support units knew about,” he said.

Based on the latest evaluation, there are several units who are way behind the standards set by the national headquarters.

Gamboa said there’s a unit performance evaluation rating that gauged if a commander deserves to stay on his post.

“Generally, for the past two months of evaluation, they seemed okay although some need to improve while others are bagsak,” he said.

But if they can’t catch up by Jan. 20, “they have to face the consequences,” he said.

Given the barometers for the three months that he was into office, commanders need to revisit their politicians on law enforcement.

“As managers of regional offices, they should not only be good in operations but administrative functions, as well,” he said.

But so far, Gamboa said Police Brigadier General Rene Pamuspusan, Western Visayas police chief, is doing well.

During his talk, Gamboa said the Police Regional Office (PRO)-6’s accomplishments are remarkable.

During his assessment conducted Oct. 21, the country’s top cop said Pamuspusan was excluded because he’s been in the position for less than 7 months.

But come Jan. 20, Pamuspusan will be included in the evaluation.

“So far, I’m satisfied and mukhang hindi naman mare-relieve ang RD (regional director Pamuspusan) niyo,” he told PRO-6 personnel.

Gamboa said he knows that the region’s top cop is doing very good, citing “the support of a very powerful command group and the regional staff.”