Director General Jesus Verzosa, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), ordered Wednesday all town and city police chiefs in Luzon not to obey illegal orders and other directives from local politicians that will compromise the apolitical stand of the PNP.

The order was part of Verzosa’s directive to 814 city and town police chiefs in Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon to protect the votes in their respective areas of jurisdiction, saying doing so is tantamount to safeguarding the integrity of the May 10 elections.

“We should be defenders of justice, not the cause of injustice. Let us safeguard the integrity of the electoral process and uphold the civil and political rights of the people which are hallmarks of a fully functioning democracy,” Verzosa told the local police commanders in a meeting at Camp Crame.

Verzosa's forum with chiefs of police was conducted Wednesday to ensure operational readiness for election duties.

Matters discussed in the forum include a briefing on the gains of the Integrated Transformation Program and updates on election reports, particularly on election hot spots and partisan armed groups.

A similar forum to be attended by 405 chiefs of police from Visayas and 489 from Mindanao will follow on Friday and Saturday this week, respectively.

In the same forum, Verzosa said that the PNP will continue to remain vigilant as the elections draw even closer.

“This is not the time to be complacent. We are mobilizing our resources and personnel in order to ensure that smooth conduct of the national and local elections,” said Verzosa.

“Like the PNP, the entire country too is poised to undergo a massive transformation as we select our new set of government officials. I enjoin all police commanders to maintain peace and order especially in critical areas. The rule of law shall be strictly implemented without fear or favor,” he explained.

And in order to constantly remind the policemen on their election duties, Verzosa led the placing of pins, which calls for honest, orderly and peaceful elections, on the right breasts part of their uniform.

Meanwhile, all regional commanders were ordered to replace their unit commanders who are set to retire within the April 15 to June 30 period this year as part of poll security measures.

Director General Jesus Verzosa, PNP chief, said he had already ordered all regional directors to submit the list of all its line commanders whose retirement are set within the period.

“In view of the forthcoming national and local elections, all regional directors and directors of natinal support units are hereby directed to replace line commanders (down to station level) who are retirable from April 15 to June 30, 2010,” said Verzosa in a memorandum he issued.

“This move is to ensure that our line commanders are still focused on their job and not distracted or hesitant to do action because of their impending retirement,” he added.

Verzosa explained that based on past experience, retirable senior police officers are not that keen anymore to be aggressive on their duties as they are already preparing for retirement.

Others, he said, are exercising some restraint, fearing that police operations may affect their impending retirement in case charges are filed against them.

“They will be placed on non-duty status for them to have more time preparing all the necessary papers for their retirement,” said Verzosa.

Based on the list submitted by the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), one of those who will be affected by the directive is Chief Superintendent Elmo San Diego who retires on May 11 this year.

But in a separate interview, Verzosa said the directive for the retirable officials to quit their posts are voluntary in nature, adding that it is just aimed at reminding the officers of the consequences if they opted to keep their positions.

“We are explaining to them that what we are trying to avoid is leadership vacuum, especially in these times that it is not that easy to make replacements due to election ban,” said Verzosa.

The PNP chief added that this is was not the first time that such directive was issued, explaining that it has been the practice in the past also to give a chance to junior officers.

And based on their experience, Verzosa said most of retiring officers usually comply with the directive.