PNP: Relief of Eastern Visayas police chief not a punishment

Published November 15, 2013 12:02pm

The relief of Chief Superintendent Elmer Soria as Eastern Visayas police chief is not a punishment but a way to help him overcome the tragedy, National Police information chief Senior Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac said Friday.

“This is our way of helping him, this is not a punishment. People there (particularly in Region 8 Police Office) will have to undergo some kind of stress debriefing,” Sindac told GMA News Online in a phone interview.

Over the weekend, Soria was quoted by reporters as saying that the death toll from super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) could reach 10,000.

But President Benigno Aquino III said in a Tuesday interview on CNN that the death toll will likely be around 2,000 to 2,500.

"Ten thousand, I think, is too much," Aquino said in the "There was emotional drama involved with that particular estimate."

On Thursday, Soria was relieved from his post.

Police sources said Soria was ordered relieved by the PNP leadership for remarking on the potential typhoon death toll for reportedly calling on the military for assistance against armed men allegedly terrorizing villages in Tacloban City.

The report, when verified by both the police and military, turned out to be a hoax.

'Strong face'

In the same interview, Sindac said PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima noticed that the police in the affected areas “are trying to put up a strong face." The PNP chief went to Leyte a day after Typhoon Yolanda hit the Visayas region and was able to talk with Soria.

“Sabi nga the spirit is willing pero makikita mo na yung mga tao nahihirapan talaga. So it is better to relieve him (Soria) of his responsibilities para makapag muni-muni,” Sindac added.

He said since Soria has a rank of a general, he will be reporting and assigned to the office of Purisima at the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame.

“Ang pinakainfluential doon ay siya bilang leader kaya siya muna ang unang pinullout,” he said.

"Stress debriefing"

In an earlier text message, Sindac said Soria and many of the police officers from Region 8 “have been through a lot for the past days and they may be experiencing what you may call 'acute stress reaction'.”

“As such, it was deemed by higher headquartersr that PCSupt Soria might need to go through some 'stress debriefing', hence his recall,” he added.

He further said that Chief Superintendent Henry Losañes who was “not affected by recent events” was tapped to replace Soria.

Losañes is former director of the PNP Maritime Group.

Sindac said the other members of PNP Region 8 will also be undergoing stress debriefing in the following days.

Asked how many police officers were affected or killed during the onslaught of Yolanda, Sindac said they have just sent a team to determine the number of casualties. — RSJ, GMA News

Tags: elmersoria, supertyphoonyolanda