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Friday, March 29, 2024

By any other name

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Careful with your words—it’s “relinquished his post,” not “resigned.”

By any other name

Former Philippine National Police director general Oscar Albayalde announced Monday that he was relinquishing his post and going on non-duty status, weeks away from his November 8 retirement.

Certainly, this was not the original plan. There would have been a celebratory send-off, highlighting the gains and achievements of a long and storied career. Unfortunately for Albayalde, the ninja cops issue came to light, and an event that took place nearly six years ago, when he was still police chief of Region 3, came back to haunt him, drastically altering his retirement plans.

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Non-duty status, we gather, is akin to a terminal leave that a worker in the private sector takes prior to the actual effectivity of resignation or retirement.

Albayalde devoted a good part of his “relinquishment” statement to airing his side on the Senate investigation. What awaits him these next few days, and onward after his retirement? We hope that the investigation flushes out the truth on these ninja cops, their protector and benefactor, and if there were other similar incidents aside from the November 2013 raid in Mexico, Pampanga.

If he is innocent, then he deserves to be able to clear his name; if he is not, then he should face the consequences of his actions, especially since he has been sworn to serve and protect the people, not serve his own interest and protect the men who worked for him, right or wrong.

The more important question is, what awaits the PNP, left in shambles by controversies surrounding its leaders?

Many have come to see the PNP as overzealous in carrying out the President’s war on drugs, to the point of disregarding due process and human rights. Allegations of profiting from the same campaign they are supposed to be waging adds ignominy to the offense of violating their mandate and the people’s trust.

The next PNP leader should inspire the organization to do better, to be better, notwithstanding the baggage of its past or the complexities of politics.

The people need their police force to work for them and nobody else. No ambiguity or confusion about that.

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