Eleazar promoted to 3-star rank

Eleazar is set to formally receive the three-star rank in an oath-taking and donning ceremony on Thursday. (File Photo: PIO NCRPO/Facebook)

MANILA — Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, chief of the Directorial Staff of the Philippine National Police (PNP), has been promoted to the next higher rank.

In a letter dated November 29 to Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, President Rodrigo Duterte approved Eleazar’s promotion to Lieutenant General, a rank that fits his position as PNP’s fourth-highest official.

Eleazar is set to formally receive the three-star rank in an oath-taking and donning ceremony on Thursday.

Prior to his appointment as PNP Directorial Staff chief, Eleazar served as director of the National Capital Region Police Office.

He also served as the director of the Quezon City Police District and the Police Regional Office 4-A (Calabarzon).

During his stint as Metro Manila top cop, Eleazar is known for imposing strict discipline on policemen and in punishing erring cops and rewarding those who made the police organization proud.

He is also known as the most social media active general — wherein he would immediately respond to the complaints or viral posts relating to errant cops and criminal activities.

His latest accomplishment as NCRPO chief was when he initiated the alliance among the government’s anti-illegal drugs law enforcement groups through the Quad-Intel Force –composed of the NCRPO, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-NCR, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)-NCR, and the military’s Joint Task Force NCR against drug lords operating in Metro Manila, particularly convicted drug lords who are detained at the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP).

The alliance led to the establishment of a liaison office of Quad-Intel Force at the NBP. The arrangement is that the Quad-Intel Force will serve as eyes and ears of the Bureau of Corrections to the illegal activities of convicted drug lords serving sentence in the facility.

Eleazar also deployed policemen who served as prison guards due to trust issues on NBP prison guards and also provided manpower in the massive demolition of illegal structures inside the NBP.

Eleazar is one of the top contenders for the country’s next top cop which remains vacant after the resignation of retired general Oscar Albayalde

The other two contenders are current PNP officer-in-charge, Lt. Gen. Archie Francisco Gamboa and deputy chief for operations, Lt. Gen. Camilo Cascolan, both members of the PMA Class 1986 along with former PNP chiefs and now Senator Ronald ‘Bato’ dela Rosa and Albayalde.