Espina confirms he offered to resign as PNP OIC

Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina on Friday confirmed that he offered to resign as officer-in-charge of the Philippine National Police.

 

In a statement, Espina said he did not want to get in the way of President Benigno Aquino III in choosing a new PNP chief.

 

"I didn’t want to get in the way of the President Aquino’s free hand in appointing a new chief PNP, thus, I earlier signified intention to be relieved as officer-in-charge of the PNP," he said.

 

Aquino said appointing Espina as PNP chief will be "disruptive to the service" since he only has three months to serve before he retires in July.

 

“Is he still in the running? Iyon na nga ang point. He assumes today, he has to about three months to serve. ‘Pag nag-three months to serve siya, may turnover na naman to the next guy who replaces him, and that’s disruptive to the service. And on that basis nga, General Espina has decided to resign,” Aquino said.

 

But the President said he will not accept Espina's resignation until he finds a new head of the PNP.

 

Espina was named officer-in-charge of the PNP following the suspension of then-PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima in December for alleged corruption. Purisima resigned in February as PNP chief after the deadly Mamasapano clash on Jan. 25.

The incident cost the lives of over 60 people, including 44 Special Action Force commandos, 17 Moro Islamic Liberation Front and five civilians.
 

Purisima's involvement in the planning of the police operation that led to the clash is being questioned as he was suspended at the time. — RSJ, GMA News