PRESIDENT Duterte has appointed three lawyers as new commissioners of the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM), which is mandated to “administer and control” the 220,000-strong PNP.
The three — Alberto Bernardo, Ricardo Bernabe and Beatrice Aurora Vega-Cancio — replaced three commissioners whose terms of office ended last March 7.
Bernardo will serve as NAPOLCOM vice chairman and executive officer, replacing former Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, who was named by President Duterte as commissioner in January last year.
Bernabe and Vega-Cancio replaced Job Magente and Zenonida Brosas, who were named as commissioners in April 2016 by former President Benigno Aquino III.
Bernardo previously served as deputy executive secretary for Internal Auditor. He holds doctoral degrees in Peace and Security Administration and in Criminology and a masteral degree in National Security Administration.
Bernabe was previously an undersecretary for strategic action at the Office of the Executive Secretary. He was an associate general counsel at San Miguel Corporation before joining the Duterte administration in 2016.
Vega-Cancio was previously a former assistant secretary at the Office of the Special Assistant to the President. Before joining the Duterte administration, she was a senior associate at the Calleja Law Office.
Last month, the President also appointed environment undersecretary Edilberto Leonardo, a retired police colonel, as NAPOLCOM commissioner, replacing retired police general Felizardo Serapio.
NAPOLCOM is chaired by the Interior Secretary, currently Eduardo Ano, a former Armed Forces chief. It is composed of four regular commissioners, one of them designated as vice chairman and executive officer.
The chief of the PNP, currently Gen. Dionardo Carlos, serves as an ex-officio commissioner.
