MANILA—Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II on Thursday formally announced the appointment of President Aquino’s former security aide as the next chief of the 148,000-strong Philippine National Police.
In a hastily called news briefing at Camp Crame, Roxas said President Aquino designated Deputy Director General Alan Purisima as the successor of outgoing PNP chief Diretor General Nicanor Bartolome.
“I’m happy to announce that there will be a formal turnover in the leadership of the PNP next week, December 18,” Roxas said.
“We are very pleased at this smooth turnover of responsibilities in the PNP as it ends 2012 and looks forward to 2013 facing many challenges, most importantly the coming (midterm) elections,” he added.
Purisima’s appointment ended months of speculations about the fate of Bartolome, who was supposed to retire from the police service on March 16, 2013, upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 56.
Purisima, a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class 1981, will be the 18th head of the national police.
He used to be a member of the Presidential Security Group during the tumultuos years of the presidency of the President’s late mother, democracy icon Corazon Aquino. /INQUIRER
Cebu Daily News 
Posted on December 13, 2012
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