Thursday, December 20, 2007 5 eyed for PNP chief in N. Mindanao By Stephen Capillas
THE Philippine National Police (PNP) regional office recommended to the mayor five police officials to replace City Police Director Superintendent Antonio Montalba in his post.
In a radio interview, Mayor Constantino Jaraula confirmed he received the list of the five police officials, but added that he asked PNP-Northern Mindanao Regional Director Chief Superintendent Teodorico Capuyan to give him until February next year to make a decision.
"I also want to maintain the status quo since any appointment at this time would upset the security measures already in place and affect personnel movement," Jaraula said.
During a PNP forum held at Camp Alagar last Tuesday, Capuyan named five candidates for the post, which the Mayor said were all qualified for the post.
The list includes Superintendent Lyndel Desquitado of the PNP-Northern Mindanao Regional Intelligence Division (RID), Superintendent Ninoy Darimbang of the PNP-Northern Mindanao's Police Community Relations Division, Superintendent Misangcad Camayug, Superintendent Isagani Genabe, and Superintendent Oscar Aguda.
Desquitado served as former PNP Provincial Director in Misamis Oriental before being replaced by Superintendent Danilo Pelisco this year while Genabe is said to be assigned at the Camiguin provincial PNP office.
In announcing the list, Capuyan said Montalba needs additional training even if he wasn't scheduled anytime soon in order to fulfill certain requirements for his post.
He also took exception to reports that Montalba was not considered qualified for the post despite previous training owing to his background as a Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) graduate rather than being from the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) or Philippine Constabulary (PC).
"There are other officials who have graduated from the ROTC like Darimbang who are qualified...it is just that Montalba needs to fulfill certain requirements for his post and in fact he is said to be the president of his class," Capuyan said.
When asked what the office would do should the mayor's office allow them to pick Montalba's successor, Capuyan said he would consult with a group of senior PNP-Northern Mindanao officials who would issue a recommendation for the official best qualified to be appointed to the city police director's post.
"We don't take this lightly...you see when one person is appointed, that means the others are sent elsewhere," Capuyan explained.
Montalba, who replaced Superintendent Aurelio Trampe following the latter's transfer to the PNP-Northern Mindanao office, is credited with conducting intensive "saturation campaigns" that resulted to the arrest and roundups of several petty crime suspects.
