While authority figures in other countries stepped down on their posts after breaching quarantine protocols, the Philippine National Police chief said that mañanita celebrant Police Major General Debold Sinas would most likely get a promotion soon.
Police General Camilo Cascolan in an ANC interview on Wednesday morning said that Metro Manila’s top cop “has done good things” and is deserving of a potential promotion in the future.
“We have to evaluate him properly. The guy deserves also an evaluation and of course, a promotion, too… that’s all I can really say. I think he has to be up at the Directorial Staff or a certain position that is fit most especially for him,” the PNP chief said, as quoted by reports.
“He is an expert most especially with regard to the training of personnel and training of recruits,” Cascolan added.
Cascolan’s remarks came as the national police reshuffle senior police officials.
Reports said that Police Brigadier General Vicente Danao is being eyed as a possible replacement for Sinas as the chief of the National Capital Region Police Office.
Danao is the current regional director of the Police Regional Office IV-A which covers the provinces of Cavite, Batangas, Laguna, Rizal, and Quezon. He used to head the Manila Police District as well.
News of Sinas’ promotion, meanwhile, earned condemnation from Filipinos who recalled his highly controversial birthday “salubong” that was held while the country was under the strictest community quarantine level in light of the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic.
“Violated health protocols tapos promotion??? Awit talaga mamser,” wrote a Twitter user in response to Cascolan’s remarks.
“‘Deserving’ pala i-promote ang pasaway,” commented another Filipino with a facepalm emoji.
Last May, Sinas made headlines when pictures of him and his subordinates in a gathering surfaced despite the strict prohibition against such social activities to reduce the transmission risk of COVID-19.
A mañanita was celebrated and its pictures were originally uploaded on the Facebook page of Sinas’ own office, where attendees were seen standing close to each other, crowding at a buffet table and eating meals without being physically distant for at least one meter.
The controversial gathering also made its way to global headlines but it didn’t Sinas maintained his post in the police force, especially after President Rodrigo Duterte had expressed his disagreement over firing him.
ABS-CBN News reported that according to the PNP, it has already filed administrative charges such as “Less Grave Neglect of Duty and Less Grave Misconduct” to Sinas and 18 other law enforcers for the violation of quarantine protocols.
Gov’t official quarantine violators in other countries
Following the reports of Sinas’ possible promotion, other Filipinos noted that authority figures in other countries who have similarly violated quarantine protocols have stepped down from their posts.
“Huwaw! Violated community quarantine but might get a promotion (’cause) he did good things? The Minister of Health in NZ (New Zealand) got demoted for breaching lockdown rules and eventually resigned. Some people in the gov’t back home makes me laugh… Not,” wrote a Twitter user with an eyeroll emoji.
“Sa ibang bansa, nag-re-resign kapag nakaka-violate ng quarantine protocols. Dito lang talaga makakapal ang mga mukha,” commented another online user.
In New Zealand, health minister David Clark offered to resign after he went to a beach with his family despite the early stages of their country’s lockdown.
In the United Kingdom, professor Neil Ferguson quit his post as the government adviser on coronavirus after he admitted to “undermining” messages on physical distancing.
European Union trade commissioner Phil Hogan likewise left his position after he “failed to limit his travel in a country in the midst of a localised lockdown.”
Scotland‘s medical chief officer Catherine Calderwood also tendered her resignation after she broke her own advice to stay at home in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
