Brace for 'forthcoming' reshuffle, Albayalde tells ground commanders

No less than the director general of the Philippine National Police (PNP) confirmed yesterday that the rumors of a looming reshuffle within the ranks are true and it is coming any time soon.

PNP chief Director General Oscar Albayalde admitted that after several meetings and deliberations with the national oversight committee at the police headquarters in Camp Crame, a reshuffle will be made among the ground commanders.

"Kaninang umaga we had an oversight committee meeting and we have decided, number one, to warn 'yung mga nakita natin na below par 'yung kanilang performance at 'yung mga sabihin nating hindi pa naka-align sa ating program thrusts (Early Wednesday morning, we had an oversight committee meeting and we have decided, number one, to warn those [commanders] whose performances are below par and what we call those who are not yet aligned with our program thrusts)," Albayalde said in a media forum in Malate, Manila.

Pressed for answers if there will indeed be a reshuffle within the ranks as claimed by several rumors, Albayalde finally answered, "I think there will be."

However, Albayalde did not mention the names on the ground commanders who will be included in the reshuffle. Neither did he dwell deeply on the topic.

The talks of a reshuffle have been in the air since last week, hinting that it will include commanders on the ground, such as the station commanders of all the precincts in the country, city directors, provincial directors, up to the regional directors.

Since Albayalde assumed the position of the country's top cop mid-April, he has consistently maintained that there is no need for a reshuffle especially if the commanders are doing their jobs well -- until his pronouncements yesterday.

However, he still said that not all police officers who will be included in the reshuffle are non-performers.

"'Yung iba naman ay talagang may magreretire na so kailangan ng kapalit at 'yung iba ay talagang retirable na rin. Ang iba two years na sa pwesto so kailangan i-assign na sa iba (Others are having early retirement so a replacement is needed and there are those who already reached the mandatory retirement age. Others have served in their posts for two years so we need to assign them to another place)," Albayalde explained.

"This reshuffle is forthcoming," he concluded.