Gamboa mum on successor

The choice for the next Philippine National Police (PNP) chief has reportedly been narrowed down to two names.

But Gen. Archie Gamboa is distancing himself from talks on his possible replacement, one of whom is his classmate at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA).

Lt. Gen. Camilo Cascolan, PNP deputy chief for administration, and Gamboa belonged to the wPMA “Sinagtala” Class of 1986.

The other candidate is Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, deputy chief for operations and concurrent commander of the Joint Task Force COVID Shield, the enforcement arm of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) in the forefront of the government’s fight against the coronavirus disease pandemic.

“No comment. You publish whatever you want, it’s good to me. Actually, I haven’t really thought about it,” Gamboa, who will reach the mandatory retirement age of 56 on 2 September, said.

Gamboa took over the PNP’s reins on October 2019 from the resigned Gen. Oscar Albayalde, who was embroiled in a controversy involving illegal drugs back when he was still Pampanga police director.

He officially became the permanent PNP chief in January.

Before becoming the national police chief, Gamboa first served as head of the Directorial Staff, the PNP’s fourth highest position, and as deputy chief for operations in September 2018.

He eventually became the organization’s No. 2 man as deputy chief for administration in October 2019, shortly before he was named PNP officer-in-charge.

President Rodrigo Duterte, as commander-in-chief and appointing authority, has the prerogative to extend Gamboa’s tenure like he did with former PNP chief turned senator Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa.

De la Rosa, who spearheaded the President’s war on narcotics, was extended as PNP chief twice in 2018 before passing the reins to Albayalde.

No comment. You publish whatever you want. Actually, I haven’t really thought about it.