Gamboa remains as PNP’s OIC

MANILA -- Lt. Gen. Archie Francisco Gamboa will remain as officerin-charge (OIC) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) even after President Rodrigo Duterte asked Interior Secretary Eduardo Año to supervise the country’s police force.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo made this remark after Duterte on Monday asked Año to supervise the PNP while he has yet to appoint a PNP chief.

“Wala namang sinabi si Presidente na yung OIC wala na di ba? (The President didn’t say anything about terminating the OIC, right?). So I suppose the OIC remains,” Panelo said in a Palace briefing on Thursday.

Panelo said Año will manage the country’s police force for as long as the President thinks is necessary.

“Di ba sabi niya hanggang kailan niya gusto? (Didn’t he say that he wanted Año to supervise the PNP sa long as he wanted him to?),” Panelo said.

Asked if this meant that the President would opt not to appoint a PNP chief until the end of his term in 2022,

Panelo said Duterte’s pronouncements were always “subject to change.”

“Every pronouncement by the President is subject to change depending on the conditions prevailing at the time an announcement is made,” Panelo said.

“If the conditions no longer obtain, then the President necessarily will have to change his stand on a particular matter,” he added.

On Monday, Duterte admitted he is still having trouble deciding on whom to appoint as next PNP chief, saying the police force in Manila remained problematic.

The President wanted Año to ‘fix’ the police force to ensure that the problems are minimized by the time he steps down from office.

Contenders for the PNP chief post are Gamboa, Lt. Gen. Camilo Cascolan, deputy chief for operations and Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, former Metro Manila police director and now head of the directorial staff.

Also considered were Central Visayas regional director, Brig. Gen. Valeriano de Leon and Calabarzon regional director, Brig. Gen. Vicente Danao Jr.

Gamboa, meanwhile, said nothing will change on his function as officerin-charge of PNP unless some of the powers given to him by the National Police Commission (Napolcom) will be withdrawn.

AFP PHOTO THIS handout photo courtesy of Dave Kendall shows fallen trees and a building damaged by Typhoon Phanfone, on the Philippine island of Boracay. The number of deaths from Typhoon Phanfone that hit the Philippines on Christmas has climbed to 41, authorities said, with tens of thousands still in evacuation centers.