MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. did not approve a service extension for retiring Calabarzon police chief Police Brigadier General Hansel Marantan, Malacañang said on Thursday, July 9.

“Wala pong extension para po kay General Marantan. At maaari po siyang makatulong sa ibang pamamaraan (There’s no extension for Police Brigadier General Marantan. And he can help in other ways),” Palace press officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said.

It was Interior Secretary Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla, one of Marcos’ closest Cabinet members, who pushed for Marantan’s extension of service in the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Remulla oversees the police as the head of the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

Remulla had written to the National Police Commission to endorse his request to Malacañang: “This request is being made in the interest of the service to ensure continuity in the execution of critical and ongoing high-impact operations currently being spearheaded by General Marantan.”

Marantan is retiring on Friday, July 10. Police officers are mandated to bow out of the police service once they reach 56.

Section 39 of Republic Act No. 6975, or the DILG Act of 1990, states that police officers are automatically retired upon reaching the age of 56. But the law also allows the president, as commander in chief, to grant a one-year extension of service for police brigadier generals, police major generals, and police lieutenant generals.

Service extensions for police generals are uncommon in the PNP, except for PNP chiefs. The practice allows senior officers, including full colonels awaiting promotion to brigadier general, to advance in the ranks.

Before his stint as Calabarzon’s top cop, Marantan was Davao City’s police chief, a post he occupied during the arrest of doomsday preacher and alleged human trafficker Apollo Quiboloy. He once headed the PNP’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group office in Metro Manila.

In 2013, when he was a police lieutenant colonel, Marantan headed a checkpoint where 13 people, including suspected jueteng operator Victor Siman, were killed in an alleged shootout in Quezon province. Last year, a Manila court cleared Marantan and 11 other police officers over the killings. – Rappler.com