Punchline
Who’s in charge?
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
THE news about the recall of P/Sr. Supt. Belli Tamayo as OIC-police provincial director after only 3 weeks of making the rounds and introducing himself, made me wonder what made the PNP regional office do it.
So I called the PNP regional office in La Union and talked to the information officer, P/Supt Paiste, who was gracious enough to take my call. When I asked where the order of sudden recall and replacement came from and what the reason was behind it? He said the order came from “higher headquarters” and he has no idea what brought about the order. He certainly didn’t sound evasive so I am taking his word for it.
If the regional office had no hand in the decision, then we are looking at a very highly irregular management situation inside the PNP hierarchy. It is bad enough that the PNP does not respect the authority of local governments nor care to acknowledge the conditions in the communities when deciding on changing of the guards, but to know that the views of the regional and provincial commands are not even considered is seriously worrisome.
Someone is obviously manipulating the PNP that has began to operate like a kingdom of its own. So, who’s in charge?
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PATTERN OF MANIPULATION. “Higher headquarters” in its strict sense could only mean the order came from Deputy Director-General Leonardo Espina, who, in turn received the order from the National Police Commission chaired by Interior Sec. Mar Roxas.
Loosely, it could simply mean a chief superintendent in Camp Crame decided that Mr. Tamayo be replaced without consulting anyone, not even the regional director or the provincial government. (It reminded me of the “time-on-target advice” of former PNP chief Alan Purisima to SAF’s chief Chief Supt. Getulio Napeñas not to inform AFP about the Mamasapano operation that led to the massacre).
But what could be that police general’s interest in the immediate recall of Mr. Tamayo? Could he be the same general that decided to replace P/Sr. Supt. Reynaldo Biay with Mr. Tamayo?
I note that Mr. Biay was also replaced at a time when we felt he was beginning to chalk some modicum of success in the war vs. the drug lords. Then came Mr. Tamayo’s recall two weeks after he described to the provincial board how he intended to continue the war against the drug syndicates. Am I seeing a pattern? You bet, I do.
Given these circumstances, I cannot but strongly suspect some starred-cops in the hierarchy are in the pockets of the drug syndicates pulling the strings rIght under the very nose of Interior Sec. Roxas!
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CONVENIENT POLITICAL TOOL. I can’t blame the provincial board for deciding to stop asking each newly-designated OICs for his plans. Engaging them on any issue is an exercise in futility, leading to nowhere since they have no control over their tenure of assignment. Besides, the designated OICs’ superior officers refuse to be accountable for their decisions to replace whoever and wherever. They are beginning to believe that they are only beholden to politicians, not to civilian authorities. Dangerous.
If the police generals refuse to account for their actions, then people are left with no choice but to make the Interior Secretary Roxas, accountable. While he is not included the chain of command, he is expected to know and understand how the police should function and relate with the communities. But the question is – how much does he really know when the OIC policy was started by the Aqunio administration!
The fact is, the appointment of OICs has become a convenient political tool for the Aquino administration. And the truth is, Pangasinan is not the only province that is being victimized by the politicized designations and appointments in the PNP.
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QUESTIONS FOR MR. ROXAS. As things stand, Mr. Roxas is very much accountable for institutionalizing the designation of OICs as a political tool to keep the administration’s foes at bay. Napolcom has a process for appointing permanent provincial police directors but this has been conveniently set aside through designations of OICs.
So the next time Mr. Roxas comes around for a visit, we should ask him: Why have you not appointed a permanent PD for us in Pangasinan? How long will you keep the OIC designations as a policy? Did you know that your OIC policy has given drug lords the upper hand to operate in the province with impunity?
The final question: Will you continue the OIC policy should you get elected as president? If the answer is evasive, then you should know whom not to vote for.
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BIRTHING PLACE FOR MOTHERS. There is something that all LGU officials should consider doing in their towns and cities – it is to provide birthing facilities, particularly where there are no provincial hospitals, or even if there is but the government hospital (and private hospitals) may not have enough staff and facilities dedicated to birthing.
In this regard, the Alaminos City government has shown the way. It has built a facility with a 15-bed capacity. The Dagupan City government, under the Lim administration, could have built one if only it was envisioned for the right reasons. For starters, he wanted a school closed for his maternity hospital project. Secondly, the cost of the planned hospital kept on increasing exponentially by the quarter that if one computed the costs of the construction on a per bed basis, each bed for an expectant mother would cost the city almost P1.5 million. Shades of the Dawel River Cruise.
I believe Mayor Belen Fernandez can certainly do a much better job for the city’s mothers-to-be and expectant mothers, (especially without the corruption factor). She has been doing a yeoman’s job for children and the youth, the seniors and the jobless. It’s time she looks into the welfare of the women, and get focused on it too. Reducing maternal deaths is one of the priority concerns of the United Nations.
The other towns and cities must begin to study how and when they can build and provide birthing facilities and services for the benefit of the mothers in their communities.
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SPECIAL PLACE IN BANI. Did you know that we have an ideal site for birdwatchers and bird photographers in Pangasinan?
The Bangrin Marine Protected Area in Bani town, is a 42.25-hectare mangrove forest and home to 53 species of migratory and indigenous birds.
To get there, one must take a boat ride to reach the mangrove area, where a boardwalk has been constructed at the edge of the front area, allowing visitors to move around the mangrove forest and spot migratory birds at close range.
Bangrin is one of the 13 bird watching sites in the Philippines identified by the Department of Tourism, and it was declared as a bird sanctuary in 2001. Aside from bird watching, you can walk around and explore the forest. Boat paddling, fishing, and gleaning of shells are other activities that visitors can try.
Pangasinan is truly blessed.
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