President Rodrigo Duterte has named Lt. Gen. Dionardo Carlos as the next chief of the Philippine National Police, vice Gen. Guillermo Eleazar who is retiring on Friday, Malacanang said Wednesday.
Eleazar, who served in the uniformed service for 38 years, bows out on Nov. 13 on his 56th birthday, the mandatory retirement age for the PNP chief, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said.
“We are confident that Gen. Carlos will continue making the PNP a professional, capable and reform-oriented organization that we envision it to be. We wish Gen. Carlos all the best as the new PNP Chief,” he said.
Carlos served as director for Integrated Police Operations in Visayas and in Southern Luzon.
He held the fourth highest position in the PNP before being named as the country’s top cop.
Carlos was also the former spokesperson of the PNP during the tenure of erstwhile police chief and now Senator Ronald dela Rosa.
Carlos, a member of the Philippine Military Academy “Maringal” Class of 1988, also became the PNP Director for Integrated Police Operations in Visayas and in Southern Luzon.
He also served as head of the PNP’s Highway Patrol Group, the Directorate for Information and Communication Technology Management, and the Directorate for Police Community Relations.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año also confirmed the appointment of Carlos whom he described as “very professional police officer.”
“I have observed the way he performed, and I can say that he is capable of doing the job as next chief PNP, he went through the ladder,” he said in a statement.
Año said Duterte’s decision placing Carlos at the helm of the PNP was guided, as always, “by cautious consideration of a candidate’s seniority, merit, track record, and service reputation.”
