At least 184 policemen, including 26 senior officers, were affected by the deactivation of the five Area Police Command (APC) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) as part of the rightsizing of all the agencies under the Executive branch.
But PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo said there will be a slow transition in the deactivation of the five APCs in order to address the problem of transferring the affected police officers to other posts.
The APC was originally called Directorate for Integrated Police Operations (DIPOs) which was created to synchronize security operations with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) which has the same number of area commands.
The five APCs were APC-Northern Luzon, Southern Luzon, Visayas, Western Mindanao and Eastern Mindanao. The five APCs are headed by a three-star police general.
But in Resolution 2024-1309 of the National Police Commission (Napolcom), all the five APCs were deactivated and it includes transfer of all officers assigned there.
“There will be some smooth transition because the affected there are around 158 Second Level uniformed personnel (from Patrolman/Patrolwoman to Lieutenant Colonel) and 26 Third Level officers (Colonel to generals),” said Fajardo.
In a recent meeting of top PNP officials, Fajardo said those affected by the APC deactivation will be transferred to other units. The challenge, however, is on the transfer of third-level officers since all the PNP top positions were already filled out.
But Fajardo said there will be retirements of senior officers in the coming days and those affected by the deactivation would be considered in the posts.
She said the activation of the 18th Police Regional Office in the Negros Island Region would also create new positions that would be filled up by those affected by the APC deactivation.
Based on the Napolcom resolution dated Dec. 27, 2024, the deactivation of APCs shall involve transfer/placement of personnel, transition of funds, pertinent documents, equipment, firearms, vehicles, facilities, other assets and legal liabilities.
The Senior Officers Placement and Promotion Board (SOPPB) shall be responsible for the placement of the third level key officers who were affected by the deactivation of the units.