Senator calls for PNP chief Purisima's resignation

Philippine National Police Director General Alan Purisima, whom the Office of the Ombudsman ordered suspended for six months, should resign from his post for the good of the PNP, Senator Sergio "Serge" Osmeña III said Thursday.
 

In a chance interview with reporters, Osmeña said that Purisima should leave his post so as not to erode the institutional morale of the PNP.

 

"He should have done (his resignation) six months ago. Dapat nag-retire na siya," the senator said.

 

"Ang ganda-ganda ng bahay niya eh," he quipped, referring to a rest house in Nueva Ecija that Purisima has come under fire for. 

 

Earlier in the day, the Ombudsman ordered Purisima and other police officials put on preventive suspension for six months pending an administrative investigation into an allegedly anomalous contract the PNP entered into with a courier service in 2011.

 

The PNP chief is facing a plunder complaint before the Ombudsman over his alleged hidden wealth, which supposedly includes a sprawling rest house in San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija that he has referred to as a "simple" house. A separate complaint involves using allegedly questionable donations to renovate the PNP chief's official quarters inside Camp Crame.

 

Osmeña also chided President Benigno Aquino III for not letting the PNP chief go.  "In many instances, especially in government, standing by your friends is not a virtue. It is a shortcoming," the senator said.

 

"You have to worry also about the image of the institution and binabalewala mo 'yung imahe ng institution," he added. — JDS, GMA News