Police Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina, the current OIC of the PNP, sent the President his letter of resignation last March
Deputy Director
General Leonardo Espina, who has headed the national police force as its
officer-in-charge (OIC) since December 2014, offered to resign 4 months before
his scheduled retirement in July.
Espina has been
the Philippine National Police (PNP)'s OIC since December 2014, following the
preventive suspension of its former chief, Director General Alan Purisima.
According to at
least 3 high-ranking officials from the PNP, Espina gave President Benigno
Aquino III his letter of resignation last March.
He gave the
letter before his promotion from Deputy Chief of Operations to Deputy Chief of
Administation effective Tuesday, April 14.
In a chance
interview on Tuesday, April 14, Espina dodged Rappler's question about his
resignation letter.
It was an
apparent effort on his part to give the President a free hand in choosing a
permanent PNP chief to replace resigned PNP boss Alan Purisima, according to a
top PNP official.
The President at
that time reacted by asking Espina for a few days to think about it, a source
told Rappler.
Espina has served
as the PNP’s head as it soldiers through its biggest crisis to date: a PNP
Special Action Force (SAF)-led operation in Mamasapano town, Maguindanao that claimed the lives of 67,
including 5 civilians, 18 Muslim rebels, and 44 SAF troopers.
Not the first
time
It’s not Espina’s
first time to express his willingness to let go of his interim role as the
PNP’s top cop.
In December 2014,
just as news of Purisima’s suspension broke, Espina told Interior Secretary
Manuel Roxas II of his willingness to be bypassed as the PNP’s OIC.
Several Rappler
sources confirmed that Espina indeed submitted a letter to Roxas saying he
would be more than willing to relinquish the job to the PNP’s next
highest-ranking official, Deputy Director General Marcelo Garbo, Jr.
A PNP in
crisis
Espina, the PNP’s
3rd-highest ranking official then, was eventually picked to be the OIC while Purisima was suspended.
Several police
officials, including Espina himself, admitted this was a difficult
set-up for the police force.
Although the
suspended Purisima was not allowed to exercise the powers of a PNP chief,
officials close to him remained loyal and refused to recognize Espina’s
authority. (READ: Don’t mess with the police, Mr President)
While he denied
commanding “Oplan Exodus,” it was later revealed through legislative hearings
and formal investigations that Purisima was a key player prior to and even
during the operation.
The 4-star
general, a close friend of President Benigno Aquino III’s, sat in briefings the
month leading to the Mamasapano operation. On January 25, Purisima was receiving
and relaying information to military and police officials, and to the President
himself.
More than 4
months since his suspension and 2 months after Purisima’s resignation, Aquino
has yet to pick a new, full-time PNP chief. (READ: Why the PNP
needs a full-time chief now)
Espina is among
the lead contenders for the plum post, but his scheduled retirement in July
2015 may be a hindrance.
Other contenders
include Garbo, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group chief Police Director
Benjamin Magalong, Directorate for Operations chief Police Director Ricardo
Marquez, and Logistics Directorate chief Police Director Juanito Vaño.
Espina, in an
interview with reporters late March, admitted not having a full-time or acting
PNP chief was affecting the police force administratively.
Police sources and former police officials, meanwhile, said it was affecting
the PNP’s morale.
http://www.rappler.com/nation/89902-leonardo-espina-resignation-oic-pnp
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