LA TRINIDAD, Benguet (PIA) — Top ranking officials of the Police Regional Office – Cordillera heeded the call of Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos to submit courtesy resignation as part of internal cleansing campaign.
PRO-Cor Regional Director Police Brigadier General Mafelino Bazar said all the third level officers of the PRO-Cor are accepting the challenge of tendering their courtesy resignation immediately. They compose of two Police Brigadier Generals and 16 Police Colonels.
PRO-Cor Regional Director Police Brigadier General Mafelino Bazar (PRO-Cor photo)
Bazar said the decision was made following their meeting with the police officials of the Cordillera region on Friday morning. He said their resignation letters were addressed to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
“We support and accept the challenge na mag submit ng courtesy resignation. Napagusapan namin na unanimously that we will accept the challenge na mag tender ng courtesy resignation in the Cordillera,” Bazar said in a press briefing at the Camp Bado Dangwa on Friday(January 6).
Abalos earlier urged high-ranking officials of the Philippine National Police (PNP), from generals to colonels, to submit their courtesy resignation amid possible involvement of some in the illegal drug trade.
Abalos said that asking for the courtesy resignation of PNP officials may be the fastest way for the country to address the drug menace that has infiltrated the police force.
PNP Chief Rodolfo Azurin Jr. on Thursday submitted his courtesy resignation.
Despite the tendering of courtesy resignation of the top officials in the region, he assured that the police operations and other functions will not be affected as they will still be undergoing assessment and evaluation.
Meanwhile, Bazar said that they welcome the appointment of Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong as one of the members of the Committee of Five which was created to conduct a thorough evaluation and assessment on the PNP colonels and generals who were asked to resign. He said that the integrity and character of Magalong, a retired former police general, is beyond question.
Magalong, who was then the Chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, headed the Board of Inquiry that investigated the controversial Mamasapano operation in Maguindanao that left 44 members of the police elite’s Special Action Force dead in 2015. (JDP/RMC- PIA CAR)
