PEEMAYERS IN PNP DOWN TO 23 WITH SERMONIA’S RETIREMENT
THE number of Philippine Military Academy graduates-turned top officials of the Philippine National Police further went down to 23 this week with the retirement of PNP Deputy Chief for Administration Lieutenant General Rhodel Sermonia.
Sermonia actually was the ‘Last Man Standing’ of PMA ‘Makatao’ Class of 1989 in the police force until he marked his 56th birthday last Friday. Before him, four other Peemayers in the PNP also retired one after the other from November last year to early this year.
They are former Area Police Command-Eastern Mindanao commander Lt. Gen. Filmore Escobal (November 5, 2023); former APC-Visayas commander Lt. Gen. Patrick Villacorte (November 28); former PNP Director for Research and Development Major Gen. Oliver Enmodias (November 12); and former PNP Director for Investigation and Detective Management Major Gen. Eric Noble (January 16 this year).
Lt. Generals Escobal and Villacorte are both classmates from PMA ‘Sambisig’ Class of 1991 of PNP chief, General Benjie Acorda who himself will be vowing out from the service this coming March 31, the end of the 3-month extension given him by President Bongbong Marcos Jr.
Apart from Gen. Acorda, there are at least 10 top Peemayers-turned top PNP officials who will be also retiring from the service this year unless luck smiles on them and the much-awaited PNP Reorganization Bill/ Military and Other Uniformed Personnel or MUP Bill is approved and extends their retirement age from 56 to 57. However, that will depend on the House of Representatives and the Senate which actually are exchanging jabs at each other amid the People’s Initiative aimed at amending the 1987 Constitution.
On Friday, the PNP honored Lt. Gen. Sermonia with a retirement ceremony at Camp Crame befitting a 3-star general. Present during the poignant retirement ceremony were the Special Assistant to the President Secretary Anton Lagdameo Jr., Gen. Acorda, the family and friends of the honoree as well as some of his PMA Class 1989 classmates.
Gen. Acorda said that Lt. Gen. Sermonia left behind a remarkable legacy shaped by his groundbreaking initiatives during his 38 years, 9 months, and 25 days of service in the PNP. In his role as the second-highest officer in the PNP, Sermonia played a pivotal role in overseeing administrative matters and financial transactions for the more than 232,000-strong police force.
However, his contributions extended far beyond his administrative duties as he championed police-community relations, transparency, and integrity programs, making significant contributions to the collective achievements of the PNP.
Lt. Gen. Sermonia held a number of important positions in the PNP including the
Chief of the Directorial Staff Deputy Chief PNP for Operations, Director for Operations, Director for Police-Community Relations and Director of the Police-Community Affairs Development Group.
He also was once a Police Regional Office 3 director in Central Luzon and a Bataan Police Provincial Office director. When his ‘bilas’ and PMA classmate, Gen. Jun Azurin became the first PNP chief designated by PBBM, Sermonia was designated as APC-Visayas commander for two-months before returning to his old post.
During his short APC-Visayas stint, Sermonia engineered the formulation of the first-ever Framework on Localized Peace Engagement. This innovative approach has since become a benchmark for ending local communist armed conflict and fostering peace and development in insurgency-affected regions, said PNP spokesperson, incoming Brigadier Gen. Jean Fajardo.
Lt. Gen. Sermonia received numerous accolades and awards including meritorious promotions during his entire military and police career. Among them are prestigious honors such as the PMA Cavalier Awards, the Metrobank’s Outstanding Policemen in Service, and the Civil Service Commission’s Presidential Lingkod ng Bayan and Dangal ng Bayan awards.
He also became the latest Peemayer in the police force to retire amid the much-awaited PNP Reorganization and MUP Bills. It only meant one thing: time is really fast catching up with members of the so-called ‘Last Mojicans’ from Fort del Pilar who joined the PNP in 1991.
Last year, the ‘Last Mojicans’ are members of PMA ‘Makatao’ Class of 1989, the PMA ‘Bigkis Lahi’ Class of 1990, the PMA ‘Sambisig’ Class of 1991 and the PMA ‘Tanglaw-Diwa’ Class of 1992.
With the retirement of Sermonia, members of PMA Class 1989 in the PNP which produced a PNP chief in the person of Gen. Azurin are now back to their civilian lives, enjoying precious time with their families.
While writing this piece, highly-placed PNP sources said there is still no word on who will compose the new Command Group of Gen. Acorda. The top cop had told me that some vacant positions in the police force are yet to be filled-up because they are waiting for the outcome of the proposed Reorganization and MUP bills that will have a big impact on the organization.
Work on the Reorganization and MUP bills have been delayed for months although Senate President Migz Zubiri in August last year had said that the Senate is set to pass a law that will extend the retirement age of uniformed members of the police force from 56 to 57 or just like that in the Armed Forces.
At present, the PMA Class 1991 led by Gen. Acorda is considered as the ‘Ruling Class’ in the PNP although there are only a few remaining ‘Sambisigs’ in the police force. Gen. Acorda will be retiring this coming March 31; PNP Deputy Chief for Operations Lieutenant Gen. Mike Dubria (December 20, 2024); PNP Chief Directorial Staff Lt. Gen. Emmanuel Peralta (this coming August 24); incoming Lt. Gen. Robert Rodriguez of the APC-Visayas (July 15, 2025);
Incoming Lt. Gen. Jon Arnaldo of APC-Northern Luzon (October 3 this year); incoming Maj. Gen. Neil Alinsangan of the PNP Directorate for Information Communications and Technology Management (September 5, 2025); Brig. Gen. Jimili Macareg, the PRO12 director in Soccsksargen region ( March 20 this year) and PNP Comptroller Maj. Gen. Rommel Marbil, the youngest ‘Sambisig’ in the PNP who will retire July 2, 2025.
Then there are the two remaining members of PMA ‘Bigkis-Lahi’ Class of 1990 , Maj. Gen. Ritchie Posadas of the PNP National Training Institute who will retire this coming June 8 and Maj. Gen. Ato Bisnar (September 30 this year).
Then there are the remaining products of PMA ‘Tanglaw-Diwa’ Class which count among its members newly-promoted Lt. Gen. Jonnel Estomo of APC-Western Mindanao (retiring this is coming November 25); and Major Generals Tateng Nartatez, Bernie Banac, Ronald Lee, Leo Francisco, Sydney Hernia, Mario Reyes, Bong Caramat and Belli Tamayo.
Banac is currently the PNP Special Action Force commander (retiring September 26, 2026); Lee is the PNP Director for Human Resource and Doctrine Development (May 5, 2025); Francisco is the PNP Director for Operations (October 2, 2025); Hernia is the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group director (October 20, 2025); Reyes is the PNP Director for Logistics (December 1, 2024); Caramat is the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group director (October 2, 2024); and Tamayo is the PNP Director for Personnel and Records Management (retiring this coming April 18).
Tateng Nartatez, the National Capital Region Police Office director, is the youngest member of the Class who will retire on March 19, 2027 and is highly-touted as the last ‘Bugo-Bugo’ who will head the police force during the PBBM administration.
Other members of PMA ‘Tanglaw-Diwa’ Class 1992 in the PNP are Brig. Generals Matthew Baccay, Mafie Bazar, Pat Obinque and Sydney Villaflor. Baccay, a lawyer is currently the PNP-DPRM deputy director who is among the youngest Class members who will retire on September 21, 2026.
Bazar, the APC-Northern Luzon deputy commander will retire on October 15, 2024 while Obinque, who will earn his second-star as PNP Director for Research and Development will retire on May 9, 2026. Villaflor, currently the PRO6 director in Western Visayas will retire on September 2, 2025.
Some members of PMA Classes 1991 and 1992 are expected to be named to a number of key PNP positions with the retirement of Lt. Gen. Sermonia. However, as I have been saying again and again, don’t discount some products of the PNP Academy to spring a major surprise sooner or later.
