We were so privileged to meet the former Chief of the Philippine National Police, PGEN Ricardo Marquez, a member of PMA Class of 1982 and was appointed by President Benigno Aquino III to lead the Philippine National Police. PGEN Marquez shared his experiences in his 34 years of service for the country and he instill in us that his achievement in his promising career is not attainable without the hard work and perseverance that he rendered to the country. One phrase that he imparts to us and has manifested for me is about the accomplishment of the mission and welfare of the men. We, as public safety officers, are mandated to render service and enforce the rules and laws of our country but we should not set aside the welfare of our men in uniforms. Accomplishing the mission should also correspond to the safety of our subordinates. A mission is not considered successful when there is a casualty within the men you are leading. We will come to this situation where we are required to choose a decision of accomplishing the mission or the welfare of others, and as their leader, we should know what we value most. We should be prepared for this considering that days from now we will be facing the true battle outside the portals of this Academy.

 

Upon he assumed the post as the Chief PNP, PGEN Marquez also gave emphasis on his implementation of the Oplan Lambat Sibat and how it confers an impact on the policing and enforcement of the Philippine National Police in the country. Oplan Lambat-Sibat[1] is a deliberate and sustained approach taken by the Philippine National Police to combat criminality nationwide. It uses both wide dragnet and intel-targeted operations to catch small-time criminals and repeat offenders. Lambat-Sibat frequently audits crime incident records at the police station level. Strategically positioned roadblocks, foot, and mobile patrols, and targeted intelligence-driven operations against the most wanted individuals and members of criminal gangs are just a few of the police interventions made by our former Chief of the Philippine National Police. This initiative of our former Chief is the qualities we should possess for us to lead effectively and be efficient public servants leading the Philippine National Police. Also, PGEN Marquez also shared the most challenging task in his service and it is to ensure the safety of Pope Francis during his visit to the country last January 2015. As the Chief, he is held liable for any harm and threat to Pope Francis and he considered it the most challenging part of his service.

 

As future leaders, we should have the ability to identify possible problems and come up with an intervention, or if the problem arises, we should have the capability to solve the problem to the best of our ability. This experience of PGEN Marquez is a manifestation that the Incident Command System or planning for the problem, identifying the problem, and making a solution for the problem is really essential, especially in our field of service and in leading our men in the Philippine National Police.

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REFERENCES: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_of_the_Philippine_National_Police

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