PNP Director Benjamin Magalong retires after 38 years in service

Director Benjamin Magalong, Philippine National Police’ current third highest-ranking official, retired on Wednesday after 38 years in service.

In his speech during the retirement honors, Magalong said he is a simple public servant who did not set out to be a leader but aspired to make a difference.

Magalong said that his 38 years “have been built by humility, sacrifice, and daily prayers.

“I am proud to have humbly and loyally served the PNP. It was an honor to serve you and a privilege to have served beside you,” he said.

Magalong said his wish for the future generation of the PNP to follow the lead of their predecessors.

“Make humility in the service the norm, not the exception. Be humble public servants,” he said.

Magalong relate that he entered the Philippine Military Academy by chance when his classmate convinced him to apply by saying “wala daw gagawin kundi magma-martsa lang, may sweldo na.”

“Before I knew it, I was drawn to a special kind of life, highly structured but ruled by the Honor Society of the PMA. We lived by it and I, myself, became a member of the Honor Committee. By April 1982, a new and different Benjie Magalong emerged from the gates of the academy,” he said.

He said in the years that followed, he transferred from one unit to another of the Philippine Constabulary and later PNP.

"Among the most memorable were my assignments in the Cordilleras, Mindanao, and the PNP SAF where I founded and pioneered the SAF Seaborne amd Sniper Unit,” he said.

He was detained in 2006 for alleged rebellion. He was among the 49 charged for their participation in alleged coup attempt against then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

When he was released, he was detailed with Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in 2007 as he was considered an outcast in the PNP.

He was assigned in the Quezon City Police District in 2010 which he considered as his return to the mainstream.

Less than a year later, he was transferred to the Directorate for Police Community Relations when he received his star and promoted to Chief Superintendent.

In 2012, he returned to serve Police Regional Office Cordillera and was tasked to head the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group two years and two months later.

It was during his stint at the CIDG that he was tapped to head of the PNP Board of Inquiry that probed Mamasapano incident in 2015 when terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan and 44 Special Action Force commandos, 18 rebels, and five civilians were killed.

In 2015, Magalong was assigned to Directorate for Intelligence and Detection Management.

He was later tapped to be the deputy chief for operations when Director General Ronald dela Rosa was appointed as PNP chief.

During the House of Representatives hearing on the alleged proliferation of illegal drugs in New Bilibid Prisons, Magalong said it was his team that conceptualized the plan dubbed as “Oplan Cronus” for the massive raid in the NBP maximum security compound.

He said his team, during his stint at PNP CIDG, that hatched the plan after finding out that most of the drug dealers being arrested by the PNP were allegedly getting their drug supply from the NBP.

The PNP-CIDG, however, ended up being excluded from the December 2014 raid led by then Justice Secretary and now Senator Leila de Lima. — VVP, GMA News