LINGAYEN—Senior Superintendent Marlou Chan, after a year of controversial assignment as chief of the provincial police, has stepped out of his Pangasinan post effective December 17.

After Chan received his new designation as chief regional directorial staff during a conference at the regional office Tuesday afternoon, he sent a text message to The PUNCH saying “Police Regional Office 1 (PRO1) was directed to designate an officer-in-charge  (OIC) for the time being.”

The deputy regional director for police operations of PRO1 is likely to serve as OIC pending designation of a full time provincial director.

Chan, who faced strong opposition to his appointment and calls by local leaders for his relief including Gov. Amado Espino Jr., reiterated his earlier statement that he does not intend to “cling” to his post and will simply wait for orders from the chain of command.

“I am a police officer and as I have been saying before, I follow legal orders,” Chan earlier told The PUNCH.

Chan was assigned as OIC police director on Dec. 21, 2012 and received regular status on May 10, the height of the election period.

Espino, asserting that the standard selection process was not followed, later filed a case in court questioning Chan’s appointment.

Previous to the court case, Chan was accused of political bias and a group of mayors signed a manifesto calling for his ouster and the provincial board issued a resolution declaring him as persona non grata.

Under Chan’s stewardship, the Pangasinan Police Office was cited for its achievements against loose firearms, criminality, warrants of arrests issued, among others in relation to the May 2013 election period.

In the midst of the controversy, Chan said, “everything like fame, glory, sacrifice, misfortune is temporary.”–Eva Visperas

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