EDITORIAL - A new PNP chief

As Metro Manila police commander, Director Oscar Albayalde is best remembered for three things. One is his relief last year of nearly the entire Caloocan police force – about 1,100 men and women – following a series of drug-related executions targeting teenage suspects.

Another is the handling of security and traffic, together with other agencies, when the country hosted the Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders’ summit and related meetings. Compared to the hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ summit in 2015, which caused unprecedented misery for the masses in Metro Manila, there was minimal public disruption during last year’s ASEAN summit.

A third is his regular inspections of police stations under his command at all hours of the day and night, catching those sleeping on the job.

Now Albayalde is headed for greater responsibilities, following his appointment as the next chief of the Philippine National Police. He will have nearly two years on the job before his mandatory retirement.

So far he has made the right noises about one raging issue: unlike his outgoing predecessor, Albayalde has said he will comply with the Supreme Court order – once appeals are exhausted – to turn over to the SC for its scrutiny records of the thousands of drug-related killings involving PNP members.

But one thing he cannot guarantee, Albayalde said a day after his appointment was announced, is that the war on drugs will be less bloody. Anyone who fights back during a police drug bust risks being killed, he said.

While this is true, it is also possible for anti-drug units to shoot to disable rather than kill. PNP members, who are tasked to keep the public safe, are supposed to be trained in such operations. This will complement Albayalde’s promise to cooperate with the Commission on Human Rights and to have no tolerance for police abuses in the war on drugs even as he continues Oplan Tokhang and the aggressive campaign against the drug menace.

Apart from the war on drugs, Albayalde is expected to continue purging the PNP of scalawags – extortionists, protectors of illegal gambling and other types of misfits. In recent years, the Armed Forces of the Philippines has managed to regain public trust and be seen as a professional organization. The PNP went in the opposite direction, becoming an object of public fear. Albayalde’s task is to dispel that fear and regain public trust in the police.