Eleazar formally assumes PNP chief post, launches cleanliness policy

Police Lieutenant General Guillermo Eleazar on Friday formally assumed post as the 26th chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

The change of command ceremony was presided over by Interior Secretary Eduardo Año. Eleazar replaced Police General Debold Sinas, who will reach the mandatory age of retirement on Saturday, May 8.

Eleazar and Sinas were classmates at the Philippine Military Academy.

Eleazar, the 6th PNP chief under the Duterte administration, accepted that his new appointment comes with the challenges of good leadership and meeting the high expectations of Filipinos. He said he is ready to face these challenges.

Cleanliness policy

In his assumption speech, Eleazar announced the launch of his intensified cleanliness policy (ICP), which is based on the broken window theory stating that small problems must be fixed immediately before getting worse.

Eleazar's ICP is divided into three main thrusts that would cover the entire continuity of reform such as the Intensified Cleanliness Policy in the Offices, Intensified Cleanliness Policy in the Ranks, and Intensified Cleanliness Policy in the Community.

The ICP in the Offices will ensure that all police precincts and stations are clean and presentable. On the other hand, the ICP in the Ranks will focus on internal cleansing as well as the reform programs that will shield the organization from police scalawags.

Meanwhile, the ICP in the Community will focus on the peace and order situation in communities across the country. This will cover street crimes, illegal drugs, communist insurgency and terrorism, cybercrime and even the COVID-19 crisis.

The ICP was first launched when Eleazar led the Metro Manila police.

Previous posts

Prior to his appointment as the nation's top cop, Eleazar was able to hold key positions while in the field. He served as chief of police of San Pedro, Laguna; provincial officer of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Batangas and Laguna; and chief investigator of the Police Anti-Crime and Emergency Response (PACER).

He also served as the CIDG regional chief in Central Luzon and Central Visayas, where he waged a relentless campaign against organized crime and threat groups.

He also held administrative positions in the Directorate for Logistics and Directorate for Comptrollership, which honed his skills in logistics and finance.

Further, he led the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group's campaign against online sexual exploitation of children and internet-based fraud and criminal activity.

In 2016, he became the commander of the Quezon City Police District where he led the relentless anti-crime and anti-illegal drug operations that led to the arrest of notorious street criminals and neutralization of notorious robbery-holdup groups, drug syndicates and police scalawags.

Eleazar also had the opportunity to lead the Calabarzon police and the National Capital Region Police Office. He was also the first commander of the Joint Task Force COVID Shield, the law enforcement and public safety arm of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

He also administered the Administrative Support to COVID-19 Operations Task Force (ASCOTF), which is tasked with coordinating all PNP administrative actions in support of police operational response to COVID-19. —KBK, GMA News