By Martin A. Sadongdong
Director General Oscar Albayalde immediately hit the ground running in his first day as new chief of the Philippine National Police.
In his first official press briefing in Camp Crame, Quezon City as PNP chief, Albayalde admitted lacking sleep after the change of command ceremony last Thursday but he said it is important to “sustain the momentum and hit the ground running on Day One of my tour of duty.”
“Consistent with my program to strengthen public engagement, henceforth, we shall be holding more regular dialogues, public fora, and media interaction consistent with the PNP media relations and public information policy of rational transparency and upholding the public right to information,” Albayalde said.
“How I wish na darating ‘yung panahon na hindi na kailangan utusan at pukpukin ang ating mga pulis. Pagpasok sa duty alam na ang gagawin. Hindi tayo parang kabayo na kapag hindi pinalo, hindi tatakbo. Hindi tayo parang jukebox na kapag hindi hinulugan ng piso, hindi tutugtog. Ito ang gusto natin mangyari,” he added.
Albayalde said he is not expecting 100 percent loyalty from ranking police officers but requested them to abide by the policies that he will be implementing.
“We know that you cannot gain or command loyalty to everybody. I cannot please everybody and I will never go for that. The fastest ticket to failure is when you try to please everybody. Loyalty is a personal matter but we are in a uniformed organization so we expect obedience from them,” Albayalde said.
He addressed several issues on the promotion of several ranking officers, particularly his successor at the National Capital Region Police Office, Director Camilo Pancratius Cascolan, who was previously assigned as head of the Directorate for Operations of the PNP.
“I designated Police Director Camilo Pancratius Cascolan to replace the post that I vacated as Regional Director of NCRPO. This reassignment triggered movements and vacancies in other key positions that need to be filled to ensure continuity of operations,” Albayalde said.
Cascolan is a “mistah” or classmate of Albayalde at the Philippine Military Academy Sinagtala Class of 1986 where now retired Director General Ronald M. dela Rosa also belongs.
