‘This last item increased Bello’s image as pro-worker, and as for Sinas, well, he will barely be remembered except for the “mañanita” gaffe.’
WE have this farewell message to General Debold Sinas, outgoing chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) — Happy birthday, Sir, and may you enjoy your retirement and please do not aspire to continue your “public service” even after this tour of duty. Please do not be tempted to accept a civilian position from President Duterte, lest your name and reputation be tarnished by another failure in any new assignment.
These wishes are a little kind and benign, compared to what some sectors are wont to say to him: “Good riddance.”
To be fair, General Sinas admitted that he had no “legacy” to leave the PNP and the nation, no achievement or accomplishment that is worth a footnote in the history of the police organization. He said at least, he did his best during the short term that he had. And may we add that Sinas is leaving without the scandal and the embarrassment of another PNP chief named Albayalde. This, we believe, is already quite a feat, considering the power, privilege and temptations for self gain that the position of Chief, PNP contain.
Sinas is too humble for not claiming as a legacy the fact that he revived the word “mañanita” from oblivion since the 1970s and even gave it a refurbished meaning, thereby enhancing both the national discourse and literary vocabulary. General Sinas escaped responsibility for an early morning birthday party attended by his loyal officers in the midst of the pandemic. How convenient and ironic, for the police during those ECQ times were Kafkaesque in their military style implementation of the quarantine order. Sinas was exonerated by Malacañang with the President himself saying that the police official was too important in the anti-COVID-19 campaign to be suspended. Talk about impunity in this administration.
Well, Sinas was also known for harassing activists in Marikina City while they were distributing donated food and other necessities to poor residents. These activists were detained for a couple of days despite the assurances of the city mayor that they had permits and were not violating ordinances or laws, whether health or security related.
The police of the National Capital Region Police Office then under General Sinas were encouraged to put the pressure on jeepney drivers in Caloocan City who lost their jobs because of the lockdown and the pandemic. A top official of NCRPO under him confiscated the cellphone of a TV reporter covering the Traslacion, while Sinas himself shut down the office of the NCRPO Press Corps. How’s that for media relations? And don’t you notice that the incidents of murder, homicide and mis-encounters among lawmen have increased under this PNP chief?
In his harried try to leave a legacy-like reform, Sinas proposed to Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III that all clientele of the Department of Labor first get a national police clearance before they are entertained for their labor-related transactions. These clients are of course mostly workers and employees.
Secretary Bello wrote to Sinas on May 4 saying that the proposed additional requirement “will do more harm than good.” Bello said the proposal may even violate the Labor Code and the Constitution, adding, “It is a form of a red tape to all and an additional financial burden to many. It is also not aligned with the policy of the President as embodied in RA 11032, also known as the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018 and Executive Order 129.”
This last item increased Bello’s image as pro-worker, and as for Sinas, well, he will barely be remembered except for the “mañanita” gaffe.
