We are sad upon knowing yesterday morning that the man we had been rooting for to become the 29th Director General of the Philippine National Police (PNP), P/Lt Gen Michael John Dubria, did not make it.
We were hoping that Gen. Mike would be appointed the replacement of just retired PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo S. Azurin, Jr., who reached his mandatory retirement age of 56 yesterday. But he was not.
Instead, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. did a Duterte when the latter appointed his first police chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, at that time still a brigadier general in the PNP. President Marcos, Jr. did a step higher by appointing a 2-star officer Maj. Gen. Benjamin C. Acorda.
But maybe, General Dubia still has a chance of becoming the chief PNP. We learned from a friend in the police organization that Acorda has only six months to serve until his own retirement at 56.
We were also informed by the same friend that General Dubria will be 56 by December 20, 2024 yet. Meaning, the Davaoeño General can still aspire for the top position for some 20 more months.
Dubria and Acorda are classmates at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) and graduated together in the same class.
As they say, hope springs eternal, and we, as a friend of General Dubria, will continue to be hoping that he will still get the chance to head the police organization.
Meanwhile, we know the Davaoeño police official will continue to serve the police with all loyalty and obedience to the command.
But what many other Filipinos and we could not understand though is the wisdom behind appointing a PNP chief who would only serve for six months. In the case of PNP chief General Acorda, he has a litany of programs to do during his incumbency. It is hard to imagine how he can do it all in his very short term.
He could barely warm his seat, and suddenly, he finds his term is winding down. We could not help if some observers among us would think that the appointment to the top police position is a case of accommodation
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So a life was snatched from a worker employed by a contractor of Apo Agua Infrastructura while the victim and his group were cleaning a pipe buried in a stretch somewhere in Mandug.
According to a statement issued by the bulk water supplier firm and partner of the Davao City Water District (DCWD) in the bulk water production and delivery project, the crew that included the victim inhaled toxic gas while working on the pipe, and the effect was more potent than the oxygen available.
Reportedly, some of the workers managed to escape and call for assistance. Immediately, the barangay responders were the first to come. The rest of the workers were retrieved and brought to the hospital. Unluckily for one of them, he was not able to survive.
We believe that the company needs to make sure their contractors are well-equipped in terms of skills not just to undertake their assigned jobs but also strategies to handle dangerous situations like the Mandug incident.
Of course, we are certain that the corporate group where Apo Agua belongs is not alien to ensuring maximum safety for its workers. But contractors, if not properly and regularly monitored for their compliance with safety requirements, often fall into laxity that usually ends up in accidents of whatever nature.
It is our hope that accidents like the one in the ongoing pipe-laying for the bulk water supply project will be the first and the last.
