PRESIDENT Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ R. Marcos Jr. on Monday appointed Lieutenant General Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr. of the Philippine Military Academy ‘Makatao’ Class of 1989 as his 1st chief of the Philippine National Police.

Marcos also designated a Medal of Valor awardee, Lt. Gen. Bartolomeo Vicente O. Bacarro of PMA ‘Maringal’ Class of 1988 as the 58th Armed Forces Chief of Staff vice the latter’s classmate, Gen. Andres C. Centino and Medardo de Lemos as the new director of the National Bureau of Investigation.

With his designation, the 55-year old Lt. Gen. Azurin became the 28th head of the 225,000-strong PNP with retired Gen. Dionardo B. Carlos as the 26th followed by Lt. Gen. Vicente D. Danao Jr. who became the PNP Officer-in-Charge upon the retirement of Carlos last May 8.

A soft-spoken and unassuming official, Lt. Gen. Azurin is currently the commander of the Area Police Command-Northern Luzon supervising all police search, rescue and relief operations in Abra and other nearby provinces devastated by the recent earthquake.

As APC-Northern Luzon commander, he has supervision over the Ilocos-Pangasinan region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon and the Cordillera Administrative Region.

Lt. Gen. Azurin was also the former commander of the Area Police Command-Southern Luzon which has jurisdiction over Calabarzon, Mimaropa and Bicol regions.

Azurin is a well-rounded police officer, having served the PNP in various capacities, both in police operations and administrative work.

He held star-rank positions at the PNP National Headquarters in Camp Crame as director of the Directorate for Comptrollership as well as the Directorate for Information and Communication Technology Management.

When he got his 1st-star, Azurin served as director of the Maritime Group and later as as the regional director of the Police Regional Office 1 in Ilocos-Pangasinan region.

As a middle-grade police officer, Azurin served as provincial director of the Benguet Police Provincial Office. He also used to be a chief of the elite Task Force Limbas of the PNP Highway Patrol Group and a Deputy Operations Officer of the now defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force.

As a junior officer, Azurin was assigned to various field units and offices that include the following: 1st Special Action Company in Parang, Maguindanao; 231st Philippine Constabulary Company in Quezon; Police Aviation Security Command — currently the Aviation Security Group; Criminal Investigation Service Command — currently the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group; Office of Internal Security of the Department of Interior and Local Government; Health Service; Police-Community Relations Group — currently the Police Community Affairs and Development Group as well as the Directorate for Personnel and Records Management.

Azurin was born on April 24, 1967 in Paniqui, Tarlac and was raised in La Trinidad, Benguet. He is married to Mary Grace Lino and has three children: Martin, Ninna, and Aaron.

PNP OFFICERS, MEN VOW FULL SUPPORT TO AZURIN

The Officers’ Corps and all other personnel of the police force pledged to support the new leadership of the organization.

“Under PLtGen Azurin’s direction, we assure the public that our police force will sustain its momentum to carry out PNP’s mission and to deliver its mandate with utmost integrity, credibility and professionalism, all for safety and protection of our Filipino people,” said PNP Public Information Office chief, Brigadier Gen. Rhoderick Augustus B. Alba in a statement.