GOOD SOLDIER. Western Visayas top pcop Brig. Gen. Leo Francisco on Thursday (Jan. 5, 2023) said he will heed the call of Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. to submit a courtesy resignation. The call was made upon the recommendation of Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. following the confirmation of Senator Ronald dela Rosa on the presence of “ninja cops” in the police force. (PNA file photo courtesy of PRO-6)
ILOILO CITY – There is no resistance on the part of Western Visayas (Region 6) top policeman Brig. Gen. Leo Francisco on the call of Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. of Interior and Local Government (SILG) for all full-fledged colonels and generals of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to submit their courtesy resignation.
“As a good soldier, I will heed the call of the SILG,” he said in a statement released through Maj. Grace Borio, spokesperson for the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO6) late afternoon of Wednesday.
He said tendering their courtesy resignation would also give them a chance to clear their names and send a message of support to the programs and transformation of the PNP organization.
“There is no need to be afraid. The truth will eventually come out. Let us trust the process of investigating who the rogue cops are,” Francisco, who is currently in Manila, added.
Borio, in a follow-up interview on Thursday, said that PRO-6 has two full-fledged generals and 29 full-fledged colonels holding top posts in various regional and provincial unit offices.
The officers will continue to hold their post until such time that the result of the investigation of the five-man committee will come out.
“It will be status quo while waiting for the result,” she said.
Meanwhile, Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr., in a press conference on Thursday, welcomed the call for the courtesy resignation saying that it would be the prerogative of the department.
“We have been working with the PNP and the DILG in the past four years" and the provincial government has not experienced any problem with any of the officials assigned in the province, Defensor said.
He added that the PNP, DILG, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the local government units have made significant work in addressing the problem of illegal drugs.
“We are almost cleared. I am contented with the work,” the governor said.
From 2016 until 2022, a total of 42 police noncommissioned officers from Western Visayas have been dismissed from service after they were tested and confirmed positive for Illegal drugs.
Abalos, in a press briefing on Wednesday, made the call as a “radical approach” to cleanse the organization of those linked to illegal drugs.
It was done upon the recommendation of PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. following the confirmation of Senator Ronald dela Rosa on the presence of “ninja cops” in the police force. (PNA)
