Sunday, May 18, 2008 San Fernandp has new police chief
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- This capital city has a new police chief in the person of Superintendent Benjamin Medina.
Medina, a member of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) Class of 1985, was officially installed last Thursday as the new chief of police here.
Observers have varied description of Medina's takeover of what some police officials say as "a highly coveted position." A few say Medina is lucky to be chosen by Mayor Oscar Rodriguez, while some say he will be having difficult times combating the persistent criminality in this city.
Sources said one of Rodriguez's main considerations in selecting his chief of police is Medina's ability to go after criminal elements that have been victimizing businessmen and residents here.
Earlier, Pampanga Police Provincial Director Keith Singian submitted the list of five police superintendents to Rodriguez. Included in the list were Superintendents Gregorio Lim, Elvis Diaz, Rolly Mendoza, Homer Penecilla and Medina.
Lim is the intelligence chief of the Pampanga police; Diaz is the provincial deputy police director for operations; Mendoza is the chief of police of Porac town; Pencilla is the chief of police of Apalit town; and Medina was the provincial deputy police director for administration prior to his new assignment.
On May 7, Singian ordered the relief of Superintendent Renato Soria as city chief of police for his failure to solve the April 30 robbery of Porac Bank's Dolores branch here.
"I have given him (Soria) enough time to solve the case but he failed," Singian told reporters in a recent interview.
According to him, the occurrence of a bank robbery is a good reason enough for the relief of a police chief as stated in the Philippine National Police's guidelines on "One Strike Policy."
Three armed men robbed the Porac Bank branch in Barangay Dolores here of P200,000 in cash on April 30. The barely four-minute heist was recorded by the bank's close circuit television.
Rodriguez has offered a P100,000 reward for anyone who can provide information that would lead to the arrest of the three robbers.
