President Duterte has approved the promotion of Philippine National Police spokesman Police Col. Bernard Banac and eight other police officers to the next higher rank.
Banac, who was promoted to police brigadier general, is the first member of the Philippine Military Academy Class 1992 to become a general. PMA Class 1992 is the last batch of the PMA which was absorbed by the PNP.
Also promoted was Police Brig. Gen. Timoteo Pacleb to police major general, a two-star rank. Pacleb is currently the head of the PNP Directorate for Intelligence.
Police Col. Walter Castillejos was promoted to police brigadier general and Police Lieutenants Colonel Hermogenes Cabe, Benliner Capili, Edilberto Leonardo, Fernando Ortega, Brimar Rodica, and Judy Lopez to police colonel.
Before he was designated as PNP spokesman, Banac was the deputy chief of the PNP Supervisory Office for Security and Investigation Agencies.
He also served as Sorsogon police chief and chief of the Diplomatic Protection Unit of the PNP Security and Protection Group.
Banac was chief of staff of the PNP Engineering Service and Senior Executive Assistant to the Chief PNP from 2015 to 2016.
He took his Master’s Degree in Development Management from the Asian Institute of Management in 1999. Banac underwent various training courses in Washington and Louisiana in the United States, Kosovo, Ivory Coast, and Thailand.
After his graduation at the PMA, he joined the Special Action Force and was assigned to Basilan at the height of the operations against Abu Sayyaf Group. (Aaron Recuenco)
