by Christopher Lloyd Caliwan/PNA
MANILA – Police Brig. Gen. Christopher Tambungan formally assumed as the new director of the Eastern Police District (EPD) on Thursday.
Tambungan, a member of PNPA Class 1987 and former Manila Police District Deputy Director for Administration, replaced Police Brig. Gen. Bernabe Balba, who was relieved from the post after a member of the EPD’s District Drug Enforcement Unit (DDEU) was arrested for robbery extortion.
“It’s just normal. As President Rodrigo Duterte said, we will intensify our campaign against illegal drugs as well as our internal cleansing,” Tambungan told reporters after the turn-over ceremony at the EPD headquarters in Pasig City.
Tambungan noted that he will check on the performance of the EPD personnel first before implementing a reshuffle.
Balba, for his part, thanked the EPD personnel and encouraged the public to continue reporting unscrupulous activities committed by police officers.
“Let me thank you all for your cooperation as I carry out my duties as your District Director. I hope I’ve created marks in your lives and somehow I got the chance to help you, influence you to keep on doing the right thing. I encourage you to keep being a good example to others. Let us continue to love our job and work with professionalism and discipline. Thank you very much once again and may God bless us all,” Balba told reporters.
Meanwhile, NCRPO head, Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, who led the turnover ceremony, instructed all police directors, commanders, and chiefs of units and offices to properly and constantly supervise their personnel to maintain discipline and order within the ranks and ensure their compliance with all lawful orders, policies, rules and regulations.
“I will continue to do my job properly. The relief of personnel could be a catalyst towards what we want to achieve. This serves as an example to other units. As what the PNP chief (Gen. Oscar Albayalde) warned, all the commanders on the ground, even the district and regional directors, they will be accountable whenever there are problems or wrongdoings of their respective drug units,” Eleazar told reporters after the ceremony.
PNP chief, Gen. Oscar Albayalde, meanwhile reminded all police personnel that he will never tolerate illegal acts or wrongdoings committed by anyone within their ranks.
“When a recruit takes his oath as a professional police officer, he automatically loses or waives some of his rights in favor of organizational discipline, duties and responsibilities. So, being scolded, reprimanded, bawled out, or dressed down for misdemeanor, misconduct or commission of crime is just part and parcel of his life being in the uniformed service,” Albayalde said in a statement.
“This is a stern warning to all PNP personnel. We will be adding more teeth to our campaign against those rogues and scalawags among our ranks. We will not hesitate to relieve any official from their posts should any incident like this extortion and robbery case would happen again,” the PNP chief added.
