Exclusive: 3rd of a series

MANY officials interviewed by the Journal Group said they mean it when they say there are only three real ‘DDS’ in the heart of former Davao City-turned President Rodrigo R. Duterte: D-anao, D-ubria and E-Scobal.

Although considered ‘junior ‘in an organization still dominated by their upperclassmen in the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), these three, Journal Group sources said, are real contenders for the top Philippine National Police post to be vacated by General Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar this coming November 13.

“I am hoping and praying that the next Chief,PNP, whether they are from the junior class will continue to be a source of strength, pride and inspiration for the entire PNP organization just like Sir Gilor,” said a senior official when asked on the possibility of having an underclassman for PNP chief.

Sources said that long before the press, human rights advocates and political opponents of Mayor Duterte concocted the word ‘Davao Death Squad’ or DDS which sowed fear among drug traffickers, rapists and thieves in Davao City, three members of PMA ‘Sambisig’ Class of 1991 namely Vic Danao, Mike Dubria and Filmore Escobal are already the three real ‘DDS’ in the fighting politician’s heart.

Danao of course is National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) director, Major Gen. Vicente D. Danao Jr. while Dubria is Brigadier Gen. Michael John F. Dubria of the Police Regional Office 12 in Central Mindanao. E-Scobal is Brig. Gen. Filmore B. Escobal of the Police Regional Office in Southern Mindanao which is based in Davao City.

All three have the proven service reputation, sterling service record, untarnished integrity and the most important of them all, loyalty to the President and the Republic, officials said.

The three actually became the first three members of PMA Class 1991 to become Police Regional Directors under the Duterte administration. The three and 25 other classmates joined the now defunct Philippine Constabulary after graduating from the famed Fort del Pilar on February 17, 1991.

Currently the highest-ranked among his classmates in the PNP, Maj. Gen.Danao, just like President Duterte is a tough official who is known for his uncompromising stand against illegal drug trafficking and abuse, especially when those involved are rogue members of the police force and other law enforcement agencies and public officials.

Known as a ‘Chief,PNP-tiable’ since the start of the Duterte administration in July 2016, Danao had his first baptism of fire in Mindanao where he spent most of his life after graduating in 1991.

The official became a Davao City police chief from October 2013 to June 2016 when President Duterte was still the city mayor and he is known to have partnered with the latter in his crusade against illegal drugs and criminality since then.

Shortly after President Duterte took the presidency in 2016, Danao was assigned to the

PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG).

Although he’s a complete stranger in Manila, the native of Nueva Viscaya, Danao went on to become a CIDG Deputy Director for Operations, a Manila Police District director where he got his 1st-star, a Police Regional Office 4-A director in Calabarzon region and later NCRPO director replacing Gen. Debold M. Sinas when he was designated as PNP chief by President Duterte in November 10 last year.

Maj. Gen. Danao is known for his LITIS program which focuses on his campaign against misfits and scalawags in uniform. Danao will be retiring from the force on August 10, 2023.

Dubria is now the PRO12 director leading the PNP’s campaign against criminality, drugs, insurgency , terrorism and corruption in the provinces of South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani and General Santos City.

Prior to that, he was designated as director of the PNP Supervisory Office for Investigation and Security Agencies or PNP-SOSIA in August 2019 and pursued massive reforms to earn more revenues for the government and stop corruption. It was in the PNP-SOSIA where he earned his star-rank.

Dubria is also a former Davao City police director who served under President Duterte’s daughter, Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio. In May last year, Dubria became the 3rd member of PMA Class 1991 to become a police regional director. As PRO12 director, he is now leading a massive campaign against drugs, criminality and terror while gaining a headway in the government program to convince more New People’s Army members to surrender. Dubria will retire on December 20, 2024, making him one of the youngest in his class.

The 3rd man in the so-called Duterte ‘DDS’ is Brig. Gen. Escobal, right now the PRO11 director in Southern Mindanao, its headquarters based in Davao City, the hometown of the Dutertes. Retiring on November 5, 2023, Escobal is known to have been a close aide of Mayor Duterte when he was still campaigning for the presidency in 2016.

Although he did not become a Davao City police director, Escobal–the younger brother of now retired Major Gen. Arnel Escobal, a classmate of Generals Eleazar and Sinas from PMA from PMA ‘Hinirang’ Class of 1987—actually commanded a number of police stations in Davao City where he earned the trust and confidence of the President.

Escobal would become a director of the Police Security and Protection Group, the PNP unit tasked to support the Presidential Security Group in protecting the First Family in 2018 before being designated as PRO11 director in October 2019.

Escobal is known being the ‘brains’ for launching a program to bring police much closer to the community in Southern Mindanao by sending his Revitalized-Pulis sa Barangay whose members since last year have attracted huge support from the public and the local government for their effort in building schools, roads and other infrastructures in far-flung areas in the region which are being taken advantage of by the NPA.

4 NCRPO CHIEFS HAVE BECOME TOP COPS UNDER DU30 SO FAR

Since 2016, President Duterte has designated four NCRPO directors as PNP chiefs, the first was Gen. Oscar D. Albayalde followed by Gen. Camilo Pancratius P. Cascolan, then by Gen. Debold M. Sinas and the last, Gen. Eleazar. Would Danao be the 5th?

Many officials watching Maj. Gen. Danao’s performance as NCRPO director have credited him for keeping crime in the metropolis in check while going all-out against rogues in uniform and leading a massive effort to help the government end local communist armed conflict.

Working hard in silence and letting his accomplishments speak for himself, Danao’s exceptional performance as chief of the metropolitan police force has been noted by the President himself and the PNP leadership.

Known as ‘Ka Enteng’ to his colleagues and peers, Maj. Gen. Danao is known for personifying his program called “Serbisyong TAMA: TApat, may tapang at MAlasakit para sa Mamamayan .”

In fact, his ‘Serbisyong Tama Caravan sa Barangay program and Project Sibol which were designed to reach out to the most vulnerable sectors of the community has been recognized by local government units and urban poor associations in Metro Manila.

Under his mantle, the NCRPO since November 2020 has launched a massive crackdown against criminality leading in the seizure of 227.3 kilograms of shabu, 390 kilos of marijuana leaves and 1,859 Ecstasy tablets worth nearly P1.6 billion.

His men also accounted for 711 most wanted persons and 4,383 other persons with warrants of arrest for various felonies. These operations led in a reduction of crimes in Metro Manila specifically the so-called Eight Focus Crimes.

As the Regional Task Force COVID Shield commander, Maj. Gen. Danao is also tirelessly supervising the implementation of all guidelines from the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to help prevent the further spread of COVID-19 and its more deadly variants in the metropolis while seeing to it that NCRPO personnel would be fully taken care of in case they contract the virus.

Danao also launched their own PNP BARANGAYanihan Help and Food Bank program in November last year to have a ready supply of food, water and other basic goods as well as hygiene kits needed by the ‘poorest of the poor’ who have affected by the pandemic.

Since November 2020, over 500,000 urban poor residents in Metro Manila have also benefitted from the NCRPO’s BARANGAYanihan and Food Bank program.

Another accomplishment of the NCRPO is the surrender of 15 former New People’s Army members and 1,153 supporters/members of CPP/NPA front organizations in the metropolis. All have renounced their CPP/NPA membership and ideology to embrace the government’s call for peace and reconciliation.

(To be continued: THE PNP COMMAND GROUP)