MALACAÑAN, Manila — With President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. hinting that outgoing Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Lieutenant General Rommel Francisco Marbil’s successor will be a ‘very senior officer’, Palace insiders have forecasted a two-way ‘fight’ between two senior police officers—Deputy Chief for Administration Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. and Chief for Operations Lt. Gen. Robert Rodriguez.
The three other contenders for the post of the country’s Top Cop are PNP chief directorial staff Lt. Gen. Edgar Allan Okubo, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) director Brigadier Gen. Anthony Aberin and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) director Major Gen. Nicolas Torre III.
President Marcos Jr. confirmed that he has already chosen the next PNP chief, citing that his choice will “carry on and continue with existing efforts to maintain peace and order.”
He asserted that “(he) would rather not use (a media) forum to announce (his appointee), reasoning that he believes “(he) should talk to them first because the official decision has not been made.”
“Whoever it is should hear about it first from me, not through the news,” he added.
The President enthused that his marching orders to the incoming PNP chief would focus on continuing existing initiatives to ensure public safety and fighting crime to maintain peace and order.
“The new chief PNP is a very senior officer in the PNP. He knows the situation. And I will actually tell them, carry on what you are doing. Because we have very good statistics concerning crime,” Marcos Jr. reiterated.
The chief executive mentioned latest data that showed Metro Manila has seen a 23 percent decrease in crime in the past six months and with index crimes declining significantly nationwide—from 15,156 between January 1 to May 16 last year to 11,493 in the same period the current year.
“Everything—murder, homicide, physical injury, robbery, theft, rape, carnapping—all went down. So, they must be doing something right,” he noted.
But despite the promising statistics, Marcos Jr. emphasized that beyond the data, increasing police presence in public areas remains a priority to improve public perception of safety and likewise bring back the people’s trust in their police even as he proudly announced the initial success of his ‘Cops On the Beat’ program, which aims to boost police visibility in communities.
He also revealed that he is looking into proposals to centralize emergency services to achieve a five-minute response time, especially in urban areas.