PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III has directed the heads of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) and the Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC) to leave their posts, a police official said Sunday.
PNP spokesperson Chief Superintendent Reuben Sindac said Aquino ordered the replacement of PNPA Director Chief Superintendent Noel Constantino and PPSC president Ruben Platon.
Constantino will trade positions with Directorate for Personnel and Records Management (DPRM) Deputy Director Chief Superintendent Armando Ramolete, while Platon was replaced by retired police deputy director general Ricardo de Leon.
De Leon is a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1971, former president of the Mindanao State University (MSU) and former vice president of the Centro Escolar University (CEU).
Sindac said Constantino’s appointment as PNPA director was supposed to end on October 3, 2013.
Constantino and Platon have misundertanding over the latter's decision to dismantle at least 20 stalls inside the school grounds last November.
The rift continued four months later after Platon was not included on the list of those who should have conferred the degree to the graduates of PNPA, breaking a 19-year-old practice.
Constantino rejected the allegations that he eased out Platon in the commencement exercises on March 31 attended by Aquino. He said Platon was one of the signatories in the diplomas.
In a media briefing right after the graduation ceremony, Aquino expressed dismay over the hostile atmosphere between the PNPA and PPSC leaders who exercise administrative supervision over the police academy.
“Can I take this opportunity to remind all stakeholders involved here that you all have one mission: to take good care of the cadets, train them well, and that you all should lead by example,” Aquino said. (Third Anne Peralta/Sunnex)