MANILA, Philippines – Even when President Benigno Aquino III was giving him orders and briefing him about the challenges he was going to face, Director Ricardo Marquez was not really sure if he had been chosen as the next Philippine National Police (PNP) chief.

“’Yung marami siyang mga sinasabi na ito ‘yung susuungin mo, eto ‘yung haharapin mo (He was telling me a lot of things, like this is what you’ll have to contend with, these are the things you’ll face),” Marquez said of his July 13, Monday meeting with the President.

It wasn’t until the “latter part” of the conversation where he was told explicitly that he was going to be the next chief of the PNP.

“Kausap niya si [Interior] Secretary Mar [Roxas] at ES [Executive Secretary Pacquito Ochoa Jr] at nandoon lang ako sa tabi,” added Marquez, currently the chief of the Directorate for Operations.

(He was speaking to Secretary Mar and ES and I was just there at the side.)

On Tuesday, July 14, Roxas announced that Marquez would be taking over the PNP as soon as officer-in-charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina dons his uniform one last time on July 16, 2015, when he turns 56.

Marquez told reporters in Camp Crame that he wasn’t exactly shocked over his appointment.

His appointment comes months after the suspension, resignation, and eventual dismissal of former PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima. With his appointment, Marquez will soon be the PNP’s lone 4-star general.

“The selection process took several months so we’re ready whoever the President chooses,” added Marquez, in a mix of English and Filipino.

The new chief of the PNP’s immediate priorities will be planning the 2016 polls and continuing the force’s programs in fighting, preventing, and reducing crime.

The hesitant star

Prior to Tuesday’s announcement, Crame had been filed with anxiety and anticipation over who the President would pick as his fourth and last PNP chief.

Several government sources – from within and outside the PNP – had long expected Marquez to get the plum pot, but did not discount the possibility of Aquino having a last-minute change of heart.

The morning of Tuesday, July 14, top police generals and colonels gathered at the PNP National Headquarters to await the announcement of the new PNP chief.

Marquez arrived in the holding room early, ahead of two other police generals who were also interviewed by the President for the top PNP post – Deputy Chief for Operations Deputy Director General Marcelo Garbo Jr and Chief of Directorial Staff Deputy Director General Danilo Constantino.

“Binabati ko si Director Marquez sa pagtatalaga sa kanya ni Pangulong Aquino bilang PNP Chief (I congratulate Director Marquez for President Aquino’s appointment of him as PNP chief),” said Roxas, who was flanked by several top police officials, including Garbo and Constantino.

Marquez playfully evaded the podium and made a disclaimer before delivering his acceptance statement as Roxas egged him on to speak before the media.

“Kailangan ko ng tutor (I need a tutor),” Marquez said in jest, gesturing to a police general beside him.

It was not so much worry and hesitation, but a man’s realization of the daunting task ahead of him. When asked what first came to his mind when he was told he would be PNP chief, Marquez quickly answered: “Would I level up to the expectations?”

Marquez will presumably serve as its chief until August 28, 2016, when he turns 56, the mandatory age of retirement.

He has on his plate a gamut of tasks: mending the wounds left behind by the bloody “Oplan Exodus,” factions in the PNP, the ongoing APEC Summit meetings, and the coming 2016 elections.

This shouldn’t be too much of a problem for Marquez, who played a key role in the PNP’s preparations for the 2013 midterm elections and spearheaded the PNP’s preparations for Pope Francis’ visit in January.

“Ang alam ko lang, basta’t binigyan ako ng responsibilidad, gagawin ko (All I know is that when I’m given a responsibility, I do it) to the best of my ability,” he told reporters.

The last-minute lead contender 

Marquez has always been a top-of-mind for the PNP chief post, but he wasn’t always the lead contender.

Other generals, those who are more senior or those who had perceived links with the powers that be, were usually mentioned first: Espina, Garbo, Directorate for Logistics chief Director Juanito Vaño Jr, and Marquez’s mistah (PMA classmate) Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) chief Director Benjamin Magalong.

But more than those officials, it was Chief Superintendent Raul Petrasanta, former regional director of Central Luzon, whom many considered a shoo-in for the PNP post.

Unlike Marquez, Petrasanta has personal ties to the President.

The police general was a member of the Presidential Security Group during the administration of former president Corazon Aquino, the incumbent president’s mother.

Petrasanta’s preventive suspension and eventual dismissal from service over a dubious deal between the Firearms and Explosives Office (FEO) and courier company Werfast put a wrench into those plans.

Marquez only emerged as the likely next chief of the PNP in recent weeks.

Amid questions and interview requests from the media, Marquez continued to head preparations for APEC Summit meetings. In the next few weeks, he’ll prepare for several more meetings in different parts of the country.

Marquez called on the public to support the PNP, as it “recovers and moves on from a difficult situation,” he said, referring to the bloody January 25 Mamasapano clash.

What’s the first thing he plans to do after formally being installed chief of the PNP? “Buckle down to work, marami tayong dapat gawin (We have lots to do),” he said. – Rappler.com