Mayor praises PNP Chief, police forces for keeping Zambo safe

MAYOR BENG Climaco has thanked PNP Chief General Guillermo Eleazar - who was recently in Zamboanga City - for the exemplary performance and dedication of the local police force in maintaining peace and order here.

Mayor Beng Climaco hands over a check to PNP Chief General Guillermo Eleazar as an incentive to the local police force. (Giana Andrion)

While in Zamboanga, Eleazar together with Climaco visited the police headquarters and the mayor presented rewards to the different police units for a job well-done. 

Eleazar praised the Climaco administration for its full support to the police – from logistics to infrastructure projects, and various equipment, including weapons and ammunition, safety gears and allowances among others that greatly helped the police force in achieving its mission. 

He also awarded the “Medalya ng Kagalingan” to deserving policemen and led in recognizing the Zamboanga City Police Kabalikat Awardees and the oath-taking of Lingkod Bayan Advocacy Support Groups and other force multipliers, and the Barangayanihan Help and Food Bank. 

Eleazar and Climaco were accompanied by PNP Director for Logistics Major General Angelito Casimiro, Brigadier General Ronaldo Ylagan, the regional police chief; and Colonel Rexmel Reyes, the city police chief. He also inaugurated various facilities at the regional headquarters and the ground-breaking ceremony of the phase 1 of the circumferential road project, including the turnover of a speedboat to the Regional Mobile Force Battalion and other logistical equipment to the regional police headquarters. 

The 55-year old Eleazar is highly respected in the police force, but he will serve only for six months and is set to retire in November following his assumption in May this year. But despite Eleazar’s short stint as PNP Chief, he managed to introduce reforms and discipline that brought back public trust to the police force, and tremendously boosted the morale of the 220,000-strong policemen. 

Eleazar, who studied in public schools and graduated Cum Laude (Class 1987) at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), is a native of Tagkawayan town in Quezon province, whose father was a veteran fighter during World War 2.  

Upon graduation from the PMA, Eleazar - at the height of the communist insurgency - was assigned to the intelligence and combat operations of the Philippine Constabulary Companies in Laguna and Cavite provinces, and commander of the Special Action Company in Southern Tagalog Region.  

And he later joined an international peace-keeping mission as a civilian police under the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia, and returned home after his stint and assigned as an intelligence and operations officer of the 4th Regional Office of the Highway Patrol Group, where he was instrumental in the neutralization of notorious carjacking and highway robbery groups in Southern Tagalog Region.  

Eleazar also served as police chief of San Pedro town in Laguna province and became provincial officer of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Batangas and Laguna; and chief investigator of the Police Anti-Crime and Emergency Response, the forerunner of the Anti-Kidnapping Group where he figured prominently in the neutralization of various kidnap-for-ransom groups.  

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

At the PNP national headquarters, Eleazar was assigned to various administrative positions in the Directorate for Logistics and Directorate for Comptrollership. He would later take command of the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group and led the PNP’s campaign against online sexual exploitation of children, and internet-based fraud and criminal activities.  

In 2016, he took the helm of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) where he waged relentless anti-crime and anti-narcotics operations that led to the arrest of notorious criminals; dismantling of notorious robbery and holdup groups; and capture and neutralization of drug suspects, including rogue policemen involved in various crimes.  

Under his leadership, the QCPD was recognized in an independent survey authorized by the National Police Commission as the “Most Trusted Police District in the National Capital Region Police Office” and Eleazar became the PNP regional director for CALABARZON and Metro Manila. 

CALABARZON is an administrative region comprising the provinces of Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Quezon, and Rizal. 

Eleazar also served with distinction as the Deputy Chief for Operations, where he concurrently headed the Joint Task Force COVID Shield as the law enforcement and public safety arm of the national government’s Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases. And later on as Deputy Chief for Administration he led the Administrative Support to Covid-19 Operations Task Force. (Zamboanga Post)