Duterte wants Año to ‘fix’ PNP
Credit to Author: Ma. Reina Leanne Tolentino, TMT| Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2019 17:03:14 +0000
President Rodrigo Duterte wants Interior Secretary Eduardo Año to lead the Philippine National Police (PNP) as he continues to search for the permanent head of the police force.
The President said he wanted Año, a retired general, to “fix” the PNP, which is an attached agency of the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
“Basta mga probinsya, mahusay ang mga pulis (Police in the provinces are competent). But in Manila? That’s why I did not appoint a PNP [chief],” Duterte said in a speech in Cotabato on Monday as he visited earthquake victims in M’lang town.
“Sabi ko kay General Año na hawakan niya muna. You fix the police so that by the time we make the exit two years from now, at least ang mga problema ng Pilipino medyo — medyo hindi na masyadong mabigat (I told General Año to handle it. You fix the police so that when we make our exit, the problems besetting Filipinos would have been reduced,” Duterte said.
Lt. Gen. Archie Francisco Gamboa was assigned acting PNP chief after Oscar Albayalde, accused of engaging in recycling seized drugs, relinquished his post three weeks before his retirement.
“You’re dealing with government officials or officers who are into corruption, lalo na ang droga. That I am warning you again, be it the police, the mayors o ‘yang mga barangay captains: You will die. Pagka pumasok kayo sa droga, there is no other way to deal with you, except to kill you (I am warning you again, be it the police, the mayors or those village captains: You will die. If you get involved in [illegal] drugs, there is no other way to deal with you, except to kill you,” the President said.
“I’ve been telling you, do not destroy my country. And if you destroy the youth of this land, you will have effectively destroyed the nation,” he added.