EDITORIAL - Term extension

Republic Act 6975, the Department of the Interior and Local Government Act of 1990 that created the DILG and the Philippine National Police, set a compulsory retirement age of 56 in the PNP.

The law allows the National Police Commission to recommend the extension of the term of a PNP general by no more than one year, subject to the approval of the president of the republic.

No reason was provided in the law for allowing such an extension. The presumption is that it is needed for continuity in critical law enforcement operations.

What the critical operations might be in Calabarzon is unclear. Region 4A, which covers Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon needs one more year of the service of its police director, Brig. Gen. Hansel Marantan, according to DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla.

The DILG chief, who is also ex-officio chairman of the Napolcom, happens to be from Cavite, his family’s bailiwick where he once served as governor. While PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez, who retires in March next year, has expressed support for Marantan’s term extension, there are reports of grumbling within the ranks about favoritism.

It’s a sentiment that cannot be brushed aside, especially if other PNP generals seek the same privilege. Each year, the PNP gets a new batch of recruits, from the lowest ranks to the officer corps from the PNP Academy. Promotions in the PNP and Armed Forces of the Philippines affect the ranks down the line, and any hold-up at the top stalls the process.

Perceived favoritism during the martial law regime of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. was among the grievances that bred the reformist movement in the AFP, whose members were among the key players in the people power revolt that toppled the dictatorship.

Marantan is also a controversial officer, having been cleared only in June last year along with 11 other policemen of multiple murder in connection with an alleged shootout in Atimonan, Quezon in January 2013 that left 13 people dead, including an environmental advocate, three policemen, an Army soldier and a suspected gambling lord. Following a probe, the National Bureau of Investigation had said there was no shootout and that the operation, with Marantan as the team leader, was a “rubout.”

A term extension can be accepted if it is seen to be in the exigencies of the service and in the best interest of the PNP. There has been no such argument provided in the case of Marantan.

In considering the recommendation, President Marcos should consider if rewarding one officer will cause resentment among many in the PNP.