Chief of the Philippine National Police

Chief of the Philippine National Police
Hepe ng Pambansang Pulisya ng Pilipinas
PNP seal
Flag of the PNP Chief
Incumbent PLTGEN. Jose Melencio C. Nartatez Jr. (Officer in Charge) since August 26, 2025
Philippine National Police
Seat	Camp Crame, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Nominator	National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM)
Appointer	President of the Philippines
Term length	Four years; Unless extended by the President further in times of war or other national emergency declared by Congress; Mandatory retirement shall be upon the attainment of age 56.
Constituting instrument	Republic Act No. 6975
Precursor	Chief of the Philippine Constabulary (PC)
Formation	March 31, 1991
First holder	Cesar P. Nazareno
Unofficial names	Director General / Police General (after the prerequisite rank)
Deputy	Deputy Chief for Administration (TDCA) Deputy Chief for Operations (TDCO) Chief of Directorial Staff (TCDS)
Salary	₱121,143 monthly basic pay (2018) [1]
Website	https://pnp.gov.ph/

The Chief of the Philippine National Police (abbreviated as C, PNP; Filipino: Hepe ng Pambansang Pulisya ng Pilipinas ^[2] ) is the head of the Philippines' national police body, the Philippine National Police (PNP). The position is invariably held by a Police General, a four-star general police officer.

The Chief of the Philippine National Police or PNP chief is also an ex officio member of the National Police Commission. ^[3]

Eligibility

The Department of the Interior and Local Government Act of 1990 (Republic Act No. 6975), the law establishing the Philippine National Police, states that the President shall appoint the Philippine National Police Chief from among a list prepared by the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) of "the most senior and qualified officers in the service" given that the prospect appointee has not yet retired or within six months from their compulsory retirement age. The lowest rank of a qualified appointee shall be the rank of Police Brigadier General. The appointment of the PNP chief by the President does not require confirmation from the Commission on Appointments. ^{[4] [5]}

Powers and functions

The holder of the position of PNP Chief holds the rank of "Police General". ^[6] Prior to February 2019, this rank was known as "Director General", According to Sec. 26 of RA 6975 the PNP Chief shall have: ^[7]

Powers, Functions and term of Office of the PNP Chief

• Command and direction of the PNP; the power to direct and control tactical as well as strategic movements, deployment, placement, utilization of the PNP or any of its units and personnel, including its equipment, facilities and other resources. Such command and direction of the Chief of the PNP may be delegated to subordinate officials with the respect to the units under their respective commands, in accordance with the rules and regulation prescribed by the commission.
• Power to issue detailed implementing policies and instructions regarding personnel, funds, properties, records, correspondence and such other matters as may be necessary to effective carry out the functions, powers and duties of the Bureau.

Tenure

Under Republic Act No. 6975, the term of office of PNP Chief cannot exceed four years. An exception can be made by the President to extend the PNP chief's term "in times of war or other national emergency declared by Congress". ^[8]

Command Group

The PNP Chief is assisted by the Command Group. ^[8] The current deputy chief for administration is PLtGen. Bernard M. Banac, the current deputy chief for operations is PLtGen. Edgar Alan O. Okubo, and the Acting Chief for Directorial Staff is PMGen. Neri Vincent D. Ignacio.

List

The following lists people who have assumed the position of Chief of the Philippine National Police. This includes people who served as Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the PNP. This excludes OIC tenure due to temporary incapacitation of filing of a leave of absence of the incumbent – who would later resume fulfilling their duties.

No.	Rank	Image	Name	Term	Ref. [9]
1st	Police Director General		Cesar P. Nazareno	March 31, 1991 – August 28, 1992	[9]
2nd	Police Director General		Raul S. Imperial	August 28, 1992 – May 6, 1993	[9]
3rd	Police Director General		Umberto A. Rodriguez	May 6, 1993 – July 8, 1994	[10]
4th	Police Director General		Recaredo A. Sarmiento II	July 8, 1994 – December 15, 1997	[9]
5th	Police Director General [a]		Santiago Aliño	December 15, 1997 – July 10, 1998	[9]
6th	Police Deputy Director General [a]		Roberto Lastimoso	July 11, 1998 – June 15, 1999	[9]
7th	Police Deputy Director General		Edmundo Larroza	June 16 – November 16, 1999	[9] [12]
8th	Police Director General [b]		Panfilo "Ping" M. Lacson	November 16, 1999 – January 21, 2001	[12] [14]
	Police Deputy Director General [c]		Leandro Mendoza	January 22, 2001 – March 16, 2001	[15]
9th	Police Director General			March 16, 2001 – March 17, 2002	[9]
10th	Police Director General		Hermogenes E. Ebdane Jr.	March 17, 2002 – August 23, 2004	[9]
11th	Police Director General		Edgar Aglipay	August 23, 2004 – March 14, 2005	[17]
12th	Police Director General		Arturo Lomibao	March 14, 2005 – July 5, 2006	[18] [19]
13th	Police Director General		Oscar C. Calderon	July 5, 2006 – October 1, 2007	[20]
14th	Police Director General		Avelino I. Razon Jr.	October 1, 2007 – September 27, 2008	[21]
15th	Police Director General		Jesus Ame Versoza	September 27, 2008 – September 14, 2010	[22]
16th	Police Director General		Atty. Raul M. Bacalzo, Ph.D.	September 14, 2010 – September 9, 2011	[23]
17th	Police Director General		Nicanor A. Bartolome	September 9, 2011 – December 17, 2012	[24] [25]
18th	Police Director General		Alan LM Purisima	December 17, 2012 – February 5, 2015	[26] [27]
19th	Police Deputy Director General		Leonardo A. Espina (OIC / Acting)	February 5 – July 16, 2015	[28] [29]
20th	Police Director General		Ricardo C. Marquez	July 16, 2015 – June 30, 2016	[30]
21st	Police Director General		Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa	July 1, 2016 – April 19, 2018	[31]
22nd	Police General		Oscar David Albayalde	April 19, 2018 – October 14, 2019	[32]
	Police Lieutenant General		Atty. Archie Francisco F. Gamboa	October 14, 2019 – January 20, 2020 (OIC)	[33]
23rd	Police General			January 20 – September 2, 2020	[34]
24th	Police General		Camilo Pancratius P. Cascolan	September 2 – November 10, 2020	[35]
25th	Police General		Debold M. Sinas	November 10, 2020 – May 8, 2021	[36]
26th	Police General		Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar	May 8 – November 13, 2021	[37]
27th	Police General		Dionardo B. Carlos	November 13, 2021 – May 8, 2022	[38]
	Police Lieutenant General		Vicente D. Danao Jr. (OIC)	May 8 – August 1, 2022	[39]
28th	Police General		Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr.	August 1, 2022 – April 24, 2023	[40]
29th	Police General		Benjamin C. Acorda Jr.	April 24, 2023 – March 31, 2024	[41] [42]
	Police Lieutenant General		Emmanuel B. Peralta (OIC)	March 31 – April 1, 2024	[43]
30th	Police General		Rommel Francisco D. Marbil	April 1, 2024 – June 2, 2025	[44] [45] [46]
31st	Police General		Nicolas D. Torre III	June 2, 2025 – August 25, 2025	[47]
Acting	Police Lieutenant General		Jose Melencio C. Nartatez Jr. (OIC)	August 26, 2025 - Present	[48]

Note

1. Due to Santiago Aliño's unresolved retirement status, all of the succeeding PNP Chiefs (non-OIC) will only have rank of Police Deputy Director General (3-star rank). ^[11]
2. Panfilo Lacson was holding the Deputy Director General ^[a] rank ^[11] until March 20, 2000. ^[13]
3. Mendoza already seated as acting PNP chief from January 22, 2001. ^[15] But due to Panfilo Lacson's age of retirement having not being reached after his resignation, Mendoza's rank is Deputy Director General until March 15, 2001. ^[16]

References

1. Macapagal, Maan. "Police officers to receive pay hike this month". ABS-CBN. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
2. "Duterte, may ibinilin kay Albayalde sa pag-upo sa PNP". ABS-CBN News (in Filipino). April 19, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018. Itinalaga bilang ika-22 hepe ng pambansang pulisya si Police Director General Oscar Albayalde na dating pinuno ng National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO).
3. "Philippine National Police Reform and Reorganization Act of 1998". The LawPhil Project. Retrieved June 7, 2025.
4. "G.R. No. 107369" . Retrieved June 2, 2025.
5. "PNP Chief should be subject to CA Confirmation -- Pimentel" . Retrieved June 2, 2025.
6. Ranada, Pia (February 21, 2019). "From SPO1 to sergeant: New law gives military rank names to police". Rappler. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
7. "Department of the Interior and Local Government Act of 1990" . Retrieved June 2, 2025.
8. "Section 26 of the Department of the Interior and Local Government Act of 1990" . Retrieved June 2, 2025.
9. "Philippine National Police". ASEANAPOL. Archived from the original on May 8, 2022. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
10. "History; Background of Police Regional Office 13". PNP PRO 13 Caraga. Archived from the original on May 15, 2021. Retrieved May 8, 2022. Director General Umberto A Rodriguez, became the Chief, Philippine National Police from May 6, 1993 to July 8, 1994.
11. Echeminada, Perseus. "Barbers seeks director general rank for Lacson". Philstar.com. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
12. Vanzi, Sol Jose (November 16, 1999). "Ping Lacson Is New National Police Chief". Newsflash.org. Archived from the original on May 8, 2022. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
13. Frialde, Mike (March 21, 2000). "At last, Lacson gets his fourth star". Philstar.com. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
14. Calica, Aurea (April 16, 2003). "Lacson files motion on 'KB' reopening". Philstar.com. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
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31. Viray, Patricia Lourdes (July 2, 2016). "Bato dela Rosa takes command of PNP: I am your father". The Philippine Star. Archived from the original on July 2, 2016. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
32. Parrocha, Azer (April 5, 2018). "Duterte appoints new DOJ, AFP, PNP chiefs". Philippine News Agency. Archived from the original on February 22, 2022. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
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34. "Duterte names Archie Gamboa as new PNP Chief". CNN Philippines. January 17, 2020. Archived from the original on January 17, 2020. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
35. Caliwan, Christopher Lloyd (September 1, 2020). "Año confirms Cascolan appointment as new PNP chief". Philippine News Agency. Archived from the original on March 15, 2022. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
36. Parrocha, Azer (November 9, 2020). "Duterte appoints Sinas as PNP chief". Philippine News Agency. Archived from the original on November 21, 2020. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
37. Calayag, Keith (May 5, 2021). "Duterte appoints Eleazar as next PNP chief -- Palace". The Manila Times. Archived from the original on May 6, 2021. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
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39. "Duterte picks Danao acting police chief". Manila Standard. May 6, 2022. Archived from the original on May 5, 2022. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
40. Caliwan, Lloyd (August 1, 2022). "PBBM names Azurin as new PNP chief". Philippine News Agency. Archived from the original on August 1, 2022. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
41. "Benjamin Acorda is new PNP chief". CNN Philippines. April 24, 2023. Archived from the original on April 24, 2023. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
42. GMA Integrated News (April 24, 2023). "Marcos names Benjamin Acorda Jr as new PNP chief". GMA News Online. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
43. Mangosing, Frances; Gascon, Melvin (March 31, 2024). "Marcos names second highest exec as PNP OIC". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
44. Obimma, Stanley (April 1, 2024). "Rommel Francisco Marbil Biography, Age, Hometown, Education". StanleyPlug.
45. Mangaluz, Jean (April 1, 2024). "Maj. Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil is new PNP chief". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
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47. Sigales, Jason (June 2, 2025). "Torre assumes office as new PNP chief". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved June 2, 2025.
48. Delizo, Michael (August 26, 2025). "Nartatez to replace Torre as PNP chief: DILG". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved August 26, 2025.