 | This article'slead sectionmay be too short to adequatelysummarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead toprovide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article.(September 2021) |
Debold Sinas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Official Photo as Chief, PNP | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Undersecretary of the Office of the President of the Philippines | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office September 11, 2021 – June 30, 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President | Rodrigo Duterte | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chief of thePhilippine National Police | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office November 10, 2020 – May 8, 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President | Rodrigo Duterte | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | PGen.Camilo Cascolan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | PGen.Guillermo Eleazar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Debold Menorias Sinas (1965-05-08)May 8, 1965 (age 60) Quezon City, Philippines | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Police career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Service | Philippine National Police | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Allegiance |  Philippines | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Divisions | Philippine National Police
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Service years | 1987–2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank |  Police General | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Debold Menorias Sinas (born May 8, 1965) is a Filipino retired policegeneral who served asChief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) from November 2020 to May 2021.[1] During his tenure, he oversaw theCOVID-19 community quarantines in the Philippines. However, he was also accused of violating the COVID-19 lockdown rules himself.[2]
Sinas graduated from thePhilippine Military Academy (PMA) in 1987. He served as the police chief ofCentral Visayas andMetro Manila before becoming chief of the PNP. After his retirement, he was appointed as an undersecretary to PresidentRodrigo Duterte. Since July 2022, he is serving asCebu City's peace and order adviser.
Debold Menorias Sinas was born on May 8, 1965, inQuezon City, Philippines.[3] However he would spend most of his childhood inButuan inMindanao.[4] At the encouragement of his father, he entered thePhilippine Military Academy (PMA), and graduated from the institution in 1987 as part of theHinirang class. (Each year since 1967, the PMA assigns the graduating batch a unique honorific as verbal representation of the collective aspirations of the class. In 1987, the class were calledHinirang - which means "chosen" or "appointed ones").[5][6][7] Sinas toldSunStar Cebu in an interview that he joined the academy due to pressure from his father – he was warned that if he did not get in, he would not be accepted back home.[8]
Prior to serving asCentral Visayas police chief, Sinas served in the Police Regional Office 12 (PRO-12) as Deputy Regional Director for Administration and inCamp Crame as secretary to the Directorial Staff under the Office of the Chief Directorial Staff and later, director of the PNP Crime Laboratory.[9][10][11] He was promoted to Police Chief Superintendent in April 2017.[12]
Sinas was police chief of the Philippine National Police's Police Regional Office 7 (PRO-7), which had jurisdiction over Central Visayas, for one year and four months.[13] He worked under the office from July 2018 to October 2019.[14] During his term at this post,Negros Oriental, a province under his jurisdiction, was the subject of intense scrutiny due to the2017–19 Negros Island killings which led to Sinas appearing at an August 2019Senate hearing to explain the increased number of killings in the province.[11] The Senate investigation determined that the police and military carried out most of the killings as part of its counter-insurgency operations against the communist New People's Army, along with armed vigilante groups that targeted suspected communists and leftists.[15]
Sinas was reassigned toMetro Manila in October 2019. His appointment as chief of theNational Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) was announced on October 10, 2019.[13] and formally assumed the position on October 16, vowing to tackle illegal drugs, bribery, and gambling in Metro Manila. He succeeded Guillermo Eleazar, who was appointed as chief of the PNP Directorial Staff.[16]
By November 2019, 143 police officers from Central Visayas were reassigned to Metro Manila police office. One of the transferred personnel was assigned as the office's intelligence officer, though Sinas did not enact other leadership changes at the time.[17]
Sinas launched abiometrics system for the NCRPO on December 2, 2019, for accurate attendance monitoring of the police office's personnel.[18]
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding missing information.(July 2022) |
On November 9, 2020, PresidentRodrigo Duterte announced that Sinas would be the next chief ofPhilippine National Police after the retirement of PNP ChiefCamilo Cascolan. Sinas' tenure began the following day.[1][19]
On May 8, 2021, Sinas celebrated his 56th birthday – the mandatory retirement age of police officers in the Philippines. Sinas' 6-month watch as top cop was marred with controversies.[20] He was succeeded by Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar as Philippine National Police chief.[21]
On September 11, 2021,Executive SecretarySalvador Medialdea announced that Sinas was appointed undersecretary of theOffice of the President.[22]
On July 4, 2022,Cebu City mayorMike Rama appointed Sinas to the Cebu City Advisory Board. He is to specialize on peace and order concerns.[23][24]
| This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding missing information.(October 2020) |
Sinas' father was a military officer born inButuan, in theCaraga region of Mindanao island. Sinas' father had died before he graduated from thePhilippine Military Academy in 1987. He mentioned in an interview that he "pushed [himself] to really graduate [from the PMA] as a promise to [his] father".[8] Sinas has two children.[7] He also mentioned in the same interview that his mother and widowed sister were living with his children.
Sinas' favorite show growing up was the Japaneseanime television series,Voltes V. The show's theme song, "Voltes V no Uta" ("The Song of Voltes V"), has become a trademark for Sinas. The Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7 where Sinas worked during 2018 to 2019) would play the theme song during ceremonies in the headquarters and even during police operations.[8] When asked why the anime show was his favorite, Sinas said that "it embodied teamwork". During his stint as National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Director (2019–2020), Sinas once again used the concept ofVoltes V in terms of the different stakeholders—such as the police, the community, and government— "volting in" to achieve one goal.[25]
On November 9, 2020, "NCRPO Fitness Team", a YouTube channel run by the National Capital Region Police office (NCRPO) where Sinas was stationed for almost a year in 2019–2020, uploaded a video featuring Sinas leading a four-minute workout routine to theVoltes V theme song.[26][25]
Sinas oversaw police response to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Metro Manila, one of the hardest hit regions ofthe pandemic. However, his stint as Metro Manila chief was marred by a controversy over the holding of a mañanita — an early morning birthday serenade — for his birthday on May 8, 2020, atCamp Bagong Diwa. A mañanita is a tradition in the Philippine police force where personnel greet their senior officers during the early morning for their birthdays. The gathering was perceived negatively by the public, with the leadership of thePhilippine National Police filing charges against Sinas and 18 other officers for violation of theBayanihan to Heal as One Act, particularly on provisions concerningsocial distancing and mass gathering at the time.[27] Although Sinas keeps his post due to the "emergency situation" concerning the pandemic, the police agency was concerned that his programs related to COVID-19 response might be disrupted.[28][29][30][31] Sinas apologized for the event though he insisted that his office observed appropriate protocols.[14] On May 20, PresidentRodrigo Duterte decided against dismissing Sinas or transferring him to another post, vouching for his character believing that he was not at fault for being "serenaded" during his birthday.[32][33]
Debold Sinas tested positive for COVID-19. The PNP made the announcement on March 11, 2021[34] on the day of his visit toOriental Mindoro to attend a ceremonial COVID-19 vaccination for the local police force. A statement by the Oriental Mindoro provincial government said that Sinas did not go through the proper health screening since he enteredCalapan via helicopter instead of entering the city throughits seaport where passengers are screened for the disease.[35]
On July 18, 2020, Sinas and other armed NCRPO officials were accused of harassment by the Delos Santos family, with the incident being filmed by a CCTV camera and the footage going viral online. The NCRPO were allegedly trying to evict the Delos Santos family from the property to build a quarantine facility for COVID-19 patients. Sinas explained that the property is owned by the PNP and Executive Master Sergeant Arnel Delos Santos was only allowed to live there temporarily with an agreement to vacate the property after his retirement in November 2018.[36]
NCRPO cops held a surprise birthday party for Sinas on May 8 to celebrate his 55th birthday. They gave a mañanita – an early morning serenade – for Sinas then they dines together without observing physical distancing, breaking quarantine protocols.
| Philippine Constabulary (1901–1942) |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Bureau of Constabulary (1942–1945) | ||
| Philippine Constabulary (1945–1975) | ||
| Philippine Constabulary Concurrently as Directors-General of theIntegrated National Police (1975–1991) | ||
| Philippine National Police (1991–present) | ||
‡ — | ||