PRESIDENT Duterte has named Lt. Gen. Dionardo Carlos, the PNP’s No. 4 man, as the new PNP chief, vice Gen. Guillermo Eleazar who will reach the retirement age of 56 this Saturday.
Carlos, the current chief of the PNP directorial staff and member of the Philippine Military Academy class of 1988, will assume his new post on Friday, according to PNP spokesman Col. Rhoderick Alba.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año described Carlos, an alumna of the Manuel Enverga University, as a “very professional police officer.”
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Carlos will take the helm on November 13, Saturday.
“We are confident that Gen. Carlos will continue making the PNP a professional, capable and reform-oriented organization that we envision it to be. We wish Gen. Carlos all the best as the new PNP Chief,” Roque said.
Eleazar, who is bowing out of the service after serving as PNP chief for six months, urged the 222,000-strong police force to support Carlos.
AFP chief Gen. Jose Faustino Jr. is also due to retire this Friday, but the defense and military establishments have yet to announce his successor.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has said he has recommended to President Duterte four generals to replace Faustino.
Año said Duterte informed him of his decision to appoint Carlos as PNP chief on Tuesday night after the President’s talk to the people. The President signed Carlos’ papers yesterday.
Asked if Carlos would be the last PNP chief to serve under the Duterte administration, Año said: “I don’t know because he is due to retire on May 8, 2022. The term of the President is not yet finished by that time.
“It’s possible he will be extended until June 30 (when the President’s term ends) or the President may appoint an OIC (officer in charge); he can also appoint a full-fledge chief PNP. That’s his prerogative, it’s only the President who can answer.”
Carlos bested several generals for the top PNP post, including the No. 2 and No. 3 men of the PNP — deputy chief for administration Lt. Gen. Joselito Vera Cruz and PNP deputy chief for operations Lt. Gen. Israel Epraim Dickson.
“I have observed the way he performed and I can say that he is capable of doing the job as next chief PNP; he went through the ladder. He held the required positions in the police career service,” Año said of Carlos.
Before taking over as the chief of the PNP directorial staff last May, Carlos served as the PNP director for Integrated Police Operations in Visayas.
He also served as director for police community relations, director for information and communication technology management, director of Highway Patrol Group, director of the Aviation Security Group, director of Eastern Visayas regional police office, and director of the Negros Oriental and Quezon provincial police offices. — With Jocelyn Montemayor
