PNP chief Marquez looks forward to retirement

THE COUNTRY’S top cop will be resting and devoting more time with his family once he bows out of the Philippine National Police at the end of the month.

Director Gen. Ricardo Marquez said he is also planning to build a house in Maragondon, Cavite, with his retirement pay from 34 years of service.

“When you have served the government for 34 years, you don’t want to think of work, so the immediate plan is to spend a few weeks on break,” he said in a press briefing in Camp Crame.

Marquez will be retiring on June 28, or two months ahead of his 56th birthday on Aug. 28.

This is to give way to the incoming PNP chief Chief Supt. Ronald dela Rosa, who will be assuming post on July 1, a day after the oath-taking of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte.

Marquez served as PNP chief for 11 months.

On June 28, the PNP will be giving Marquez a testimonial parade and dinner to honor him and his family.

Marquez said he received some job offers from the private sector that “he didn’t want to close his doors on” but he would rather not talk about job offers for the time being.

According to the Directorate for Comptrollership, Marquez stands to receive P4,814,125.42 from his commutation of accumulated leave, and a three-year lump sum or retirement gratuity of P3,280,500.

This is on top of his monthly pension of 85 percent of his P67,500 monthly basic pay.

Marquez said he opted to retire early so that Dela Rosa will be able to hit the ground running by July.

He still has a very full schedule on Monday as he will lead the awarding of outstanding policemen, the oath-taking of lateral police officials, the blessing of vehicles and an agreement-signing.

“I want to squeeze myself in every activity before I retire,” he said.

During his stint, Marquez was known for stressing patrolling and basic policing as one of the most effective methods in fighting crime, downloading many policemen from the offices to the streets.

He was known for successfully providing security for the 2015 visit of Pope Francis even before his appointment as PNP chief and last year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) meetings in November.

“I’d like to be remembered as someone who was given the very special opportunity to serve our country in a very special capacity as commander of the Papal task force, the Apec security task force,” he said.

Marquez also spearheaded an administrative resource information system, where policemen can apply for promotion and pension benefits through a paperless system.

He said the transition period for Dela Rosa went well as top police officials have been briefing the incoming PNP chief on pressing matters.