CEBU CITY—A Liberal Party-backed ex-police official is handpicking the police officials to be appointed to the cities and provinces during the May 9 elections, according to Mon Ilagan, the spokesman of the opposition United Nationalist Alliance.
He said the former police official was closely identified with LP standard bearer Manuel Roxas II, and that he was meddling in the police appointments in an attempt to manipulate the May 9 elections.
UNA claims the recently retired PNP Deputy Chief for Administration Marcelo Garbo Jr. is personally handpicking the commanders now being deployed to the provinces as an offshoot of a revamp imposed by the Commission on Elections.
Ilagan said Garbo, who retired on March 2, was still involved in the reshuffling of police personnel.
UNA said Garbo had figured prominently during the Cebu Capitol standoff in December 2012, and that he had cases before the Office of the Ombudsman for robbery in connection with the incident.
The group said Garbo’s appointment as chief of the NCRPO in 2013 was a political reward for his “outstanding stewardship” in connection with the six-month suspension of former Cebu governor Gwendolyn Garcia in 2012.
UNA president Toby Tiangco said Garbo appointment contradicted the efforts being done to insulate the PNP from any political influence.
“What we see here is that the PNP has again become more exposed to patronage politics and unfair maneuvering by the Liberal Party,” Tiangco said.
He said Garbo was closely associated with Roxas and the LP, and that he was now pre-occupied with designating police commanders to sensitive posts in the provinces.