HANDS ON. Col. Andres Simbajon Jr. interviewing individuals rounded up during Oplan Galugad operations. File photo.
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – He hit the ground running, so to speak, right upon his assumption of office as top cop of Pampanga only last October.
His hands-on management style, most manifest in his actual engagement with the troops in successive – and highly successful – anti-illegal drug operations most particularly in this city, has not only boosted police morale but earned him the respect of his men, and the local government executives whose areas were minimized, if not exactly cleared, of the drug menace.
Wednesday, Dec. 2, only two months into his post, Col. Andres Simbajon, Jr. was directed to relinquish his post as Pampanga provincial police director.
Ironic that on that very day, Simbajon was leading an anti-illegal drug operations at Xevera Subd. In Bacolor, Pampanga that yielded 200 grams of shabu with a street value of P1.3 million and the arrest of two suspected drug pushers, one of whom was a high value target.
“I was surprised, my relief was a decision of higher police headquarters,” said Simbajon in a phone interview.
He said he has been assigned to the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations–Western Mindanao stationed at the PNP Headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City.
To succeed Simbajon is Col. Arnold Thomas Ibay,outgoing Albay police director and former NCRPO criminal investigation and detection group chief. With media reports
