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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Banac named PNP's number 2 man

Banac named PNP's number 2 man

Published Aug 6, 2025 01:08 pm

At A Glance

  • Banac will take over the post of his classmate at the PMA, Police Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez, Jr. who, in turn, will assume his position as commander of the Area Police Command-Western Mindanao.
Police Lt. Gen. Bernard M. Banac, the former chief information officer of the Philippine National Police (PNP), is now back at Camp Crame in Quezon City after staying for more than a year as commander of police forces in Western Mindanao.
This, after he was named as the PNP’s Deputy Chief for Administration, or the national police force’s number two man, in a special order dated Aug. 5 and approved by PNP chief Gen. Nicolas Torre III.
The same order, which took effect on Wednesday, Aug. 6, paved the way for the swapping of positions between Banac and Police Lt. Gen. Melencio C. Nartatez, Jr., the former PNP Deputy Chief for Operation who will take over the post vacated by Banac as commander of the Area Police Command-Western Mindanao.
Aside from holding the PNP chief information officer, Banac also served as the provincial director of Sorsogon, the regional director of Eastern Visayas, and as commander of the PNP’s elite Special Action Force.
He also served as head of the the Directorate for Plans and the Directorate for Information and Communications Technology Management (DICTM).
A member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class 1992, Banac started his career as a Special Action Force (SAF) company commander from 1992 to 1996. He then served as a security aide to then Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Robert Barbers from 1996 to 1998.
His first international stint came in November 2005 when he was deployed as a technical adviser of the United Nations Police Arms Embargo Cell of UN mission in Abidjan, Ivory Coast from November 2005 to May 2007; and operations and planning officer of the UN mission in Pristina, Kosovo from May 2008 to March 2009.
He underwent various local and international police and military training and courses during his UN assignment. In 2012, Metrobank Foundation recognized Banac as one of the Country’s Outstanding Policemen in Service (COPS).
The now ‘touchable’ Command Group
This is not the first time that a member of the Command Group, or the top four highest positions in the PNP, was “demoted” and sent to the area far from the National Headquarters at Camp Crame.
During the time of Rodolfo Azurin as PNP chief, then PNP officer-in-charge and deputy chief for Operations lieutenant general Vicente Danao was assigned as commander of the APC-Visayas.
The same happened to then lieutenant general Rhodel Sermonia to replace Danao in the same post. Sermonia was then the PNP’s number two man, or the PNP Deputy Chief for Administration, or the same position that Nartatez was holding prior to his reassignment to Mindanao.
During the time of Benjamin Acorda as the country’s top cop, he named then major general Jonnel Estomo, as the commander of the APC-Western Mindanao. Estomo was then the PNP’s third highest official, being the Deputy Chief for Operations.
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