Outgoing CCPO Director Police Colonel Royina Garma and PRO-7 director Police Brigadier General Debold Sinas during a press conference at the PRO-7 headquarters on Monday morning, June 24, 2019. | Screengrab from CDN Digital live stream
Cebu City, Philippines—After 24 years of service with the police force, outgoing Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Police Colonel Royina Garma said she is ready to embrace a different role in public service, one she describes as ’softer.’
In a press conference on Monday morning, June 24, 2019, at the Police Regional Office Central Visayas (PRO-7) headquarters along Osmeña Boulevard in Cebu City, PRO-7 Director Police Brigadier General Debold Sinas confirmed Garma’s appointment as the new general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).
Sinas said President Rodrigo Roa Duterte announced this development last June 18, 2019, during the joint Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)-Philippine National Police (PNP) command conference at the Malacañan Palace.
“Gi announce na but we are waiting for the official [appointment],” Sinas said. “We are very happy for Colonel Garma’s promotion. We will miss her but mas gusto namo naa siyas PCSO aron makatabang siya sa amoa.” (We will miss her but we like it that she’s in the PCSO so she can help us.)
Garma said she will be retiring from the police force with her appointment as PCSO general manager. She would still have been eligible for 10 more years in police service.
“This is another [kind of] public service. This is the soft part of public service. Kasi charity diba? (Because there’s charity, right?), Garma said of her upcoming stint with the PCSO. “It is extremely different from where I am now.”
Garma served a year as city director in Cebu City and is the first woman to sit as police chief in the city. She is expected to step down on June 30, 2019.
Read more: Woman power: The new Cebu City police director
The 45-year-old Garma said she has started preparing for her new job at the PCSO, which is the principal government agency aimed at raising and providing funds for health programs, medical assistance and services, and charities of national character.
But she won’t divulge her plans just yet.
“I did my research already. You will know [my plans for PCSO] once I’m there. Now, it’s still too premature to say my plans but I have my plans already,” Garma said.
With her transfer to a new field, Garma noted that her one-year stay as CCPO director is something she won’t forget.
“It wan an honor to serve Cebu City. One year was really very challenging. Improvement should have been better and faster if there was cooperation with the local government unit,” she said. “But the incoming mayor has promised to provide what is due to the PNP. So it will be a good time to work. I’m sure whoever will replace me will have a good period in serving because the support will be very overwhelming.”
Meanwhile, Sinas didn’t divulge any name yet as to who will replace Garma as CCPO director.
The PRO-7 chief did say he personally would still want a female city director because he believes women in general have better management skills and are better disciplinarians.
“If ako inyu pangutan-on, gusto nako babayi gihapon. Ang babae kasi lisud i corrupt,” Sinas said.
(If you ask me, I will still want a woman chief. Women are difficult to corrupt.) /bmjo