After weeks (& months) of anxious anticipation, we can now all show a sigh of relief. Congratulations to Brod Jess Verzosa, Eta ’72, on his coming promotion this Saturday, Sept. 27th, as the new Police Director General of the Philippine National Police. Brod Jess will have one of the longest terms as a PNP Chief in the modern history of the force. He will retire from service on December 25, 2010. You make us very proud brother!
Join us in giving honor to our distinguished brother, an officer and a gentleman, this coming October 9, 2008, Thursday, 7:00pm at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Ortigas Avenue, Pasig City. This Testimonial Dinner is a joint celebration with the APO LAWMAN AA. Seats are limited to 200 guests and are available on a first-come-first-serve basis. Kindly send your name, chapter, batch year and mailing address to president@apo.org.ph or ned@apo.org.ph. A donation of P1,500.00 is requested to cover the cost of the venue, food and drinks.
It’s official: Arroyo names Verzosa new PNP chief
By Joel Guinto / INQUIRER.net / First Posted 12:57:00 09/22/2008
MANILA, Philippines — President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has named Deputy Director General Jesus Verzosa, an officer trained in intelligence work, as the new chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said.
Verzosa will replace Director General Avelino Razon Jr., who will retire on Saturday. Ermita said there was “no indication” on whether or not Razon would be given a government post, like his predecessors. “I was told by the President to announce his [Verzosa’s] appointment,” Ermita said in a phone interview on Monday. Ermita said Arroyo chose Verzosa because “he was next in line,” being the PNP’s deputy chief for administration, or number two man.
The President will return from New York, where she is attending the United Nations General Assembly, in time for the turnover rites between Razon and Verzosa, tentatively scheduled on Saturday.
Verzosa is a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy’s 1976 “Magilas” class. His classmates include Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff General Alexander Yano, Army Chief Lieutenant General Victor Ibrado, Navy Chief Vice Admiral Ferdinand Golez, AFP Deputy Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Rodrigo Maclang, Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) Chief Lieutenant General Nelson Allaga, Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) Chief Major General Isagani Cachuela, and Marines Chief Major General Ben Dolorfino. Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. is an adopted classmate or “mistah” of Verzosa’s PMA class.
Prior to being the PNP’s number two man, Verzosa was chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), and the Intelligence Group (IG).
In 2003, when Verzosa was IG chief, Jemaah Islamiyah bomb expert Fathur Rohman al Ghozi escaped from his jail cell inside an IG facility in Camp Crame. Verzosa resigned from his post to give way to an investigation into the escape. Al-Ghozi was killed in an encounter with government forces in Central Mindanao later that year. Al-Ghozi was key suspect in the bomb attacks on the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Blumentritt station in downtown Manila that killed over 20 people.
As CIDG regional director for Southern Tagalog in the early 1990s, Verzosa led an investigation that pointed to Calauan town Mayor Antonio Sanchez as the main suspect in the killing of University of the Philippine Los Baños students Allan Gomez and Mary Eileen Sarmenta.
Sanchez was convicted of the murders. He is serving a life sentence.
*Photos courtesy of NP Mel Adriano
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