By AARON RECUENCO
Police Lt. Gen. Archie Gamboa embarks on a mission of gaining the trust and confidence of President Duterte on the Philippine National Police following his appointment as the chief of the PNP.
Gamboa had earlier admitted that the PNP suffered credibility issue after his predecessor was dragged into a drug-recycling and drug lord extortion controversies last year which resulted in Duterte publicly attacking the PNP and delaying the selection of the next PNP chief.
“I thank President Duterte for his trust and confidence,” said Gamboa, referring to the Chief Executive’s announcement last Friday that he would be appointing him as the next chief PNP.
Gamboa said that the sincerity and determination to reform the police organization and improve further in the campaign against illegal drugs could be one of the reasons why he was chosen as the PNP chief.
Gamboa served as the officer-in-charge of the PNP since October last year when then PNP chief Police Lt. Gen. Oscar Albayalde was forced to quit after he was implicated in the bogus drug raid in Pampanga when he was still the province’s police commander.
Gamboa said that Duterte may have seen his efforts for the PNP to bounce back from the controversy through the programs and projects he initiated.
In order to win back the President’s trust, Gamboa said his focus is to combine aggressive internal cleansing and a shift in the strategy in the drug war by targeting high-value targets.
“Internal cleansing the aggressive campaign against illegal drugs will be my top priorities for this year,” said Gamboa.