With the retirement of Philippine National Police Chief General Guillermo Eleazar approaching on November 13, the rumors of who will replace him are heating up.
One of the resounding names is Police Regional Office (PRO) 3 Director Brig. Gen. Val de Leon, who is said to be the personal bet of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.
President Rodrigo Duterte’s daughter “Inday Sara” first met De Leon when he was only the Deputy Director for Operations of the Police Regional Office 11.
De Leon was then only a colonel, and as former chief of the Davao City Police Office and Davao Oriental Police Provincial Office, he led the
Special Investigation Task Group when an explosion rocked the Davao City Night Market on September 2, 2016, leaving 15 people dead and 69 others injured.
This impressed the people of Davao because the investigation they conducted was thorough. Due to the good presentation of solid evidence, 11 suspected members of the terrorist group Maute Group were found guilty by the Taguig Regional Trial Court of multiple murders and multiple attempted murders.
De Leon is a member of the Makatao Class of 1989 of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA). His classmates are fellow Chief PNP contenders—PNP Deputy Director for Operations Maj. Gen. Rhodel Sermonia and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) chief Brig. Gen.Albert Ferro.
Another rumored replacement for Eleazar is National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Brig. Gen. Vicente Danao, who is a member of PMA Sambisig Class of 1991.
Recently, PRO3 led by De Leon received the Best Police Regional Office award due to the invaluable accomplishments of the general, who was also aide-de-camp of retired CIDG chief and now Antipolo City Rep. Romeo Acop.
Some of the biggest accomplishments of De Leon’s group were the killing of four Chinese drug lords in Zambales, where authorities recovered more than 500 kilos of shabu estimated to be worth P3.5 billion.
After the successful operation last September 7 in Bgy. Libertador, Candelaria, Zambales, a series of drug raids in Bataan, Cavite and several neighboring provinces uncovered more illegal drugs.
PRO3’s partner in this operation is the National Intelligence and Coordinating Agency and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, which was also a reason for Eleazar to personally praise them.
De Leon was the first to become general in his batch, and even when he was still a police major, the group he led was named Best Regional Mobile Group of the Year in 2006 with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself paying tribute to him.
In 2016, President Duterte himself witnessed the appointment of De Leon as the Best Senior Police Commissioned Officer of the Year for Administration.
He also received a Gold Award from the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission for its online and ‘no contact policy’ to all who want to apply for a gun license.
It is also said to be the reason to curb red tape and corruption in transactions with the PNP Firearms and Explosives Office.