EDITORIAL - Revolving door

The first order of business for Camilo Cascolan, the new chief of the Philippine National Police, was to announce new assignments for PNP officers. The movements were inevitable following his promotion.

As for other changes in the PNP, how much can be accomplished in just two months? That’s all the time that Cascolan has in the top PNP post before his mandatory retirement when he turns 56 in November.

It can be argued that the PNP will continue functioning regardless of who’s in charge of the organization. But the PNP chief does affect the way law enforcement is carried out. Ronald dela Rosa, before he became senator, oversaw the bloody war on illegal drugs, code-named Oplan Tokhang and later Double Barrel.

Cascolan, the third classmate of Dela Rosa in the Philippine Military Academy’s Class of 1986 to serve as PNP chief, reportedly helped draw up Double Barrel. Will the take-no-prisoners approach to the drug war be pursued under his watch?

The revolving door in government service comes at a price to taxpayers. Persons who serve for even a few weeks as the top official in an organization get the full retirement pay, lifetime pension and other benefits of that position. The amounts run into millions for the chiefs of the military and police as well as the Supreme Court.

Following Cascolan’s appointment, proposals have been revived to put an end to the revolving door. One is to give the chiefs of the PNP and Armed Forces of the Philippines a fixed tenure. Another proposal is to prohibit the appointment of any officer with less than a year left in the service to the two positions. Still another proposal is to raise the mandatory retirement age for the PNP and AFP to 65, so that those qualified for the top posts would have enough time on the job.

Pursuing the revolving door in appointments to critical positions is a presidential prerogative. Previous presidents have implemented the revolving door in their appointments. But there must be other ways of rewarding favored officials at less cost to taxpayers. If it requires legislation to put an end to the revolving door, Congress should give it serious consideration.