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In defense of loyal PBBM General

July 5, 2022 Alfred P. Dalizon 1146 views

Alfred DalizonI’M referring to the defense put up by many of retired and active police officers and men to retired Brigadier General Roman ‘Popong’ Felix amid the below the belt accusations being hurled against him by some people due to his association with and loyalty to President Bongbong Marcos Jr.

Several PNP officials since last week have been calling me up to vouch for the honesty and integrity of Felix, a member of Philippine Military Academy ‘Matikas’ Class of 1983 amid efforts by some groups to cast aspersion and doubts on his personality in an obvious effort to drive a wedge between him and PBBM.

A police general who spoke to me on condition of anonymity said people behind such effort are doomed to fail. “Alfred, nobody can really put a good man down and again, that old adage would surely be proven in the case of Gen. Felix and PBBM, believe me,” the official told me.

Lately, I have heard from the Camp Crame grapevine and some good friends in the force that there is an ongoing smear campaign against Felix amid speculations that he is one of the persons being consulted by PBBM when it comes to placement in the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces. Call it black propaganda, I would say.

My friends have told me that such smear campaign won’t succeed since the bond between PBBM and Felix remain very strong and in fact, was even tested in the previous campaign period. They added that it is also obvious that a few persons who think they won’t get any benefit from the new administration as well as the PNP leadership are behind such black propaganda.

Another friend from Ilocos-Pangasinan region told me that Gen. Felix joined the campaign of PBBM as a volunteer who did not ask any support from anybody and pulled money from his own pocket to help in the 64-year old president’s successful campaign.

“He never asked for any finances, even money for gasoline and spent his own resources during the previous campaign. That’s the kind of friendship he and PBBM have,” my friend told me.

I learned that Gen. Felix chose to remain on the side of PBBM just watching his back to ensure that the man who would become the country’s 17th president is fully protected using of course, his old contacts from the police and the military. However, he chose not to deal with officials who are known for their loyalty to PBBM’s rivals of course, particularly when it comes to gathering real-time intelligence and monitoring security threats as part of their security preparations for the man who would become president.

Now that PBBM has assumed the presidency, Gen. Felix, I learned is also on another mission to ensure that President Marcos will be protected throughout his 6-year presidency. A highly-reliable source told me that Felix has not asked any lucrative position from PBBM although I heard he is being considered to be the next powerful presidential adviser on police and military affairs.

“It is really a thankless job. He is doing it as a gesture of his loyalty to his former boss and Governor of Ilocos Norte, the same man whom he helped protect during his stint as governor and is now trying to protect as our president,” my source told me.

Unknown to many, Felix became an Ilocos Norte Police Provincial Office director when PBBM was still its governor. As I have written in a previous column, call it destiny. Who knows that the man he was protecting as governor would soon become the Commander-in-Chief.?”

As I have said before, I have known Gen. Felix as a silent, honest and unassuming officer, a former director of the Police Security and Protection Group in Camp Crame who went on to become a Police Regional Office 1 director in Ilocos-Pangasinan region.

A former helicopter pilot, the native of Tuguegarao City in Cagayan understandably will be one of PBBM’s ‘eyes and ears’ in the PNP and the Armed Forces during his administration. That is expected since both have developed a kind of friendship that dates back to their Ilocos Norte days. All Philippine presidents too have their own trusted lieutenants, say in the case of former President Duterte: Senator Bong Go and former PNP chief, now Senator Ronald ‘Bato’ dela Rosa.

Many officials have also told me that it is very unfair for PBBM, Gen. Felix and the other police officials being targeted by the ongoing black propaganda since the Marcos administration is not even a week-old.

Gen. Felix has chosen to ignore the smear campaign against him, I was told but many people who knew him said they have to come to his defense knowing his real character and his being silent in nature. “It’s very unfair to all the personalities being maligned in that smear campaign especially the new President and Gen. Felix. I hope this would stop and everybody would come to their senses to help our country,” one retired officer told me.

Obviously, the smear campaign against Felix was triggered by the ‘waiting game’ on who would be the 1st PNP chief to be appointed by PBBM. There are internal and external forces in the PNP who are watching who will be his 1st Chief,PNP tasked to command the 225,000-strong police force.

As I have been saying time and time again, the good service reputation, the solid character and traits and the performance of the candidates from their Lieutenant, Captains and Major days and up will play a major role in their selection.

Other factors include loyalty to the country and the Constitution and of course, the dogged determination to carry out the tough task of being the Chief,PNP. My friends have been telling me that BBM won’t be having a hard time picking his 1st Chief,PNP since he has many trusted aides who can give him the best recommendation since they know the ins and outs of the police force and its officials. One of them is Gen. Felix.

Since he took his oath as president on Thursday last week, PBBM has not decided yet on whom will he appoint as his 1st Chief,PNP, the man who will implement his peace and order programs needed to spur economic growth. It should be noted that the law says that the Commander-in-Chief may choose the PNP chief from any official with the rank of 1-star or Brigadier General and up.

As I have written before, one of the contenders for the post, of course is the PNP Officer-in-Charge, Lieutenant General Vic Danao of PMA ‘Sambisig’ Class of 1991.

The others are three members of PMA ‘Makatao’ Class of 1989, namely PNP Deputy Chief for Administration, Lt. Gen. Rhodel Sermonia, PNP Director for Operations, Maj. Gen. Val de Leon and Area Police Command-Northern Luzon commander, Lt. Gen. Jun Azurin.

The names of Police Regional Office 10 director in Northern Mindanao, Brigadier Gen. Benjie Acorda, also of PMA Class 1991 and PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group director, Maj. Gen. Ely Cruz of PMA ‘Bigkis Lahi’ Class of 1990 have also been mentioned as contenders for the top PNP post.

The age of the candidates is also expected to count here. Lt. Gen. Danao will be retiring on August 10, 2023; Lt. Gen. Sermonia on January 26, 2024; Lt. Gen. Azurin on April 24, 2023; Maj. Gen. de Leon on May 7, 2023; Maj. Gen. Cruz on June 14, 2023; and Brig. Gen. Acorda on December 3, 2023.

All these officials are my friends who have the solid characters, qualification and competency to lead the police force. However, many star-rank officials and middle-grade officers who have been watching from the sidelines have told me the one but same thing: all the candidates must immediately gather and air their support to whoever will be PBBM’s choice. One major factor in the race too is the thing called Loyalty. That’s a fact.

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