Purisima packing up for ‘White House’ exit – PNP

MANILA, Philippines – Resigned Philippine National Police chief Director General Alan Purisima is packing up in preparation for his imminent departure from the “White House,” the official residence of the PNP chief in Camp Crame, the PNP said on Friday, February 13.

PNP spokesperson Chief Superintendent Generoso Cerbo Jr said in a news briefing that according to the PNP Headquarters Support Service (HSS), Purisima started the process on Sunday – two days after President Benigno Aquino III accepted the PNP chief’s resignation.

Cerbo said that under PNP rules, police officers have a month to move out from their Camp Crame quarters once they are no long entitled to stay there.

He said this will give the officers “ample time” to move out their belongings, especially in the case of those with families and children.

Responding to questions, Cerbo said that in the case of Purisima, this period began after the President accepted his resignation but clarified that there is “no urgency” in the former top cop’s departure from the White House.

“There will be no ‘forced out’ that will happen. It can be discussed. We are gentlemen here,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino, when asked whether Purisima would be forcibly removed from his quarters if he exceeds the designated period.

The White House, reportedly renovated at a cost of P12 million for Purisima, was among the controversies that hounded the former top cop, and was the subject of a plunder and indirect bribery complaint filed against him before the Ombudsman in 2014. (READ: More questions on PNP chief’s ‘White House,’ discounted car)

On February 5, Aquino announced that he had accepted the resignation of Purisima, his close friend.

The ex-top cop would later say in a Senate hearing that he did so as he was accountable for the Mamasapano operation that killed 44 Special Action Force (SAF) troopers, along with 18 Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters, and 3 civilians in the Maguindanao town.

Prior to his resignation, Purisima was suspended over graft charges stemming from an alleged anomalous PNP contract with a courier company.

In September 2014, the Coalition of Filipino Consumers filed graft, plunder and indirect bribery complaints against Purisima over an alleged undervalued Nueva Ecija property and the White House. – Rappler.com