A YEAR after he became Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) director, Police Colonel Manuel Abrugena was ordered relieved from his post for a new assignment in Manila.
In an order dated June 18, 2019, the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame reassigned Abrugena to the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO).
Police Colonel Roderick Mariano, Abrugena’s classmate in the Philippine National Police Academy Class of 1995, will replace him as CPPO director.
The relief order did not surprise Abrugena, which he said is part of his job as a police officer.
“It’s part and parcel of my job. It’s the same as my sudden transfer to Cebu last year when I was made acting provincial director,” he told reporters on Thursday, June 20.
Abrugena does not know yet what position awaits him at the NCRPO. He also doesn’t know the reason for his relief.
He said he would have wanted to continue his programs at the CPPO, such as ridding his organization of scalawags.
Abrugena said he is happy, though, that his office was successful with its anti-drug campaign.
He said they were able to arrest known drug personalities and confiscate millions of pesos worth of illegal drugs, including marijuana plants that they uprooted in Cebu’s hinterlands.
Abrugena thanked his subordinates for supporting the programs he implemented during his stint as CPPO chief. (From AYB of SuperBalita Cebu, LRC)