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Debold Menorias Sinas (born May 8, 1965) is a Filipino retired police
general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
who served as Chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) from November 2020 to May 2021. During his tenure, he oversaw the COVID-19 community quarantines in the Philippines. However, he was also accused of violating the COVID-19 lockdown rules himself. Sinas graduated from the
Philippine Military Academy The Philippine Military Academy ( / ) also referred to by its acronym PMA is the premier military academy for Filipinos aspiring for a commission as a military officer of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). It was established on Decembe ...
(PMA) in 1987. He served as the police chief of
Central Visayas Central Visayas (; or ) is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines, numerically designated as Region VII. With only two Provinces of the Philippines, provinces: Cebu and Bohol, as well as three Cities of the Phi ...
and
Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila ( ), commonly shortened to Metro Manila and formally the National Capital Region (NCR; ), is the capital region and largest List of metropolitan areas in the Philippines, metropolitan area of the Philippines. Located ...
before becoming chief of the PNP. After his retirement, he was appointed as an undersecretary to President
Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the first Philippine president from Mindanao, and is the oldest person to assum ...
. Since July 2022, he is serving as
Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu, is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 964,169 people, making ...
's peace and order adviser.


Early life and education

Debold Menorias Sinas was born on May 8, 1965, in
Quezon City Quezon City (, ; ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read and pronounced in Filipino language, Filipino as Kyusi), is the richest and List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 c ...
, Philippines. However he would spend most of his childhood in
Butuan Butuan (pronounced ), officially the City of Butuan (; Butuanon: ''Dakbayan hong Butuan''; ), is a highly urbanized city and the regional center of Caraga, Philippines. It is the '' de facto'' capital of the province of Agusan del Norte ...
in
Mindanao Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...
. At the encouragement of his father, he entered the
Philippine Military Academy The Philippine Military Academy ( / ) also referred to by its acronym PMA is the premier military academy for Filipinos aspiring for a commission as a military officer of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). It was established on Decembe ...
(PMA), and graduated from the institution in 1987 as part of the ''Hinirang'' 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 called ''Hinirang'' - which means "chosen" or "appointed ones"). Sinas told ''
SunStar Sunstar or Sun Star may refer to: Astronomy *The Sun Newspapers * '' Merced Sun-Star'' in California, United States * ''Sun Star'' (Alaska), a student newspaper in Alaska, United States * '' SunStar'' in the Philippines :* '' SunStar Cebu' ...
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.


Career

Prior to serving as
Central Visayas Central Visayas (; or ) is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines, numerically designated as Region VII. With only two Provinces of the Philippines, provinces: Cebu and Bohol, as well as three Cities of the Phi ...
police chief, Sinas served in the Police Regional Office 12 (PRO-12) as Deputy Regional Director for Administration and in
Camp Crame Camp General Rafael T. Crame () is the national headquarters of the Philippine National Police (PNP) located along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) in Quezon City. It is situated across EDSA from Camp Aguinaldo, the national headquarters of ...
as secretary to the Directorial Staff under the Office of the Chief Directorial Staff and later, director of the PNP Crime Laboratory. He was promoted to Police Chief Superintendent in April 2017.


Key Postions

*Deputy Director for Administration, Police Regional Office 12 *Secretary to the Directorial Staff, PNP NHQ *Director, PNP Crime Laboratory Group *Regional Director, Police Regional Office 7 *Regional Director, NCRPO *Chief, PNP


Central Visayas chief

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. He worked under the office from July 2018 to October 2019. During his term at this post,
Negros Oriental Negros Oriental (; ), officially the Province of Negros Oriental (; ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Negros Island. Its capital is the city of Dumaguete, one of the two regional centers of Negros Island Region, with the other b ...
, a province under his jurisdiction, was the subject of intense scrutiny due to the 2017–19 Negros Island killings which led to Sinas appearing at an August 2019
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
hearing to explain the increased number of killings in the province. 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.


Metro Manila chief

Sinas was reassigned to
Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila ( ), commonly shortened to Metro Manila and formally the National Capital Region (NCR; ), is the capital region and largest List of metropolitan areas in the Philippines, metropolitan area of the Philippines. Located ...
in October 2019. His appointment as chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) was announced on October 10, 2019. 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. 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. Sinas launched a
biometrics Biometrics are body measurements and calculations related to human characteristics and features. Biometric authentication (or realistic authentication) is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control. It is also used t ...
system for the NCRPO on December 2, 2019, for accurate attendance monitoring of the police office's personnel.


Philippine National Police chief

On November 9, 2020, President
Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the first Philippine president from Mindanao, and is the oldest person to assum ...
announced that Sinas would be the next chief of
Philippine National Police The Philippine National Police (PNP; ) is the national police force of the Philippines. Its national headquarters is located at Camp Crame in Bagong Lipunan ng Crame, Quezon City. Currently, it has approximately 228,000 personnel to police a pop ...
after the retirement of PNP Chief Camilo Cascolan. Sinas' tenure began the following day. 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. He was succeeded by Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar as Philippine National Police chief.


Post-police career

On September 11, 2021, Executive Secretary
Salvador Medialdea Salvador "Bingbong" Campo Medialdea (born October 14, 1951) is a Filipino lawyer and former government official. He served as the Executive Secretary (Philippines), Executive Secretary from 2016 to 2022 in Presidency of Rodrigo Duterte, the admi ...
announced that Sinas was appointed undersecretary of the Office of the President. On July 4, 2022,
Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu, is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 964,169 people, making ...
mayor
Mike Rama File:Official_handover_turnover_of_Palarong_Pambansa_Flag_(Rizal,_Metro_Manila;_2023-08-05)_E911a_13.jpg, Rama at Marikina Sports Center Michael Lopez Rama (born October 28, 1954) is a Filipino politician who served as Mayor of Cebu City fro ...
appointed Sinas to the Cebu City Advisory Board. He is to specialize on peace and order concerns.


Family and personal life

Sinas' father was a military officer born in
Butuan Butuan (pronounced ), officially the City of Butuan (; Butuanon: ''Dakbayan hong Butuan''; ), is a highly urbanized city and the regional center of Caraga, Philippines. It is the '' de facto'' capital of the province of Agusan del Norte ...
, in the
Caraga Caraga, officially the Caraga Administrative Region (or simply known as Caraga region) and designated as Region XIII, is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines occupying the northeastern section of Mindanao. Th ...
region of Mindanao island. Sinas' father had died before he graduated from the
Philippine Military Academy The Philippine Military Academy ( / ) also referred to by its acronym PMA is the premier military academy for Filipinos aspiring for a commission as a military officer of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). It was established on Decembe ...
in 1987. He mentioned in an interview that he "pushed imselfto really graduate rom the PMAas a promise to isfather". Sinas has two children. He also mentioned in the same interview that his mother and widowed sister were living with his children.


''Voltes V''

Sinas' favorite show growing up was the Japanese
anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
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. 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 of ''Voltes V'' in terms of the different stakeholders—such as the police, the community, and government— "volting in" to achieve one goal. 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 the ''Voltes V'' theme song.


Controversies and criticism


COVID-19 pandemic


Mañanita celebration

Sinas oversaw police response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Metro Manila, one of the hardest hit regions of the 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, at Camp 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 the
Philippine National Police The Philippine National Police (PNP; ) is the national police force of the Philippines. Its national headquarters is located at Camp Crame in Bagong Lipunan ng Crame, Quezon City. Currently, it has approximately 228,000 personnel to police a pop ...
filing charges against Sinas and 18 other officers for violation of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, particularly on provisions concerning
social distancing In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious dise ...
and mass gathering at the time. 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. Sinas apologized for the event though he insisted that his office observed appropriate protocols. On May 20, President
Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the first Philippine president from Mindanao, and is the oldest person to assum ...
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.


Bypassing of Oriental Mindoro health protocol

Debold Sinas tested positive for COVID-19. The PNP made the announcement on March 11, 2021 on the day of his visit to
Oriental Mindoro Oriental Mindoro (), officially the Province of Oriental Mindoro (), is a province in the Philippines located on the island of Mindoro under Mimaropa region in Luzon, about southwest of Manila. The province is bordered by the Verde Island P ...
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 entered
Calapan Calapan, officially the City of Calapan (), is a component city and the capital of the province of Oriental Mindoro, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 145,786 people making it the most populous in Oriental Mi ...
via helicopter instead of entering the city through its seaport where passengers are screened for the disease.


Harassment accusation

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.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinas, Debold 1965 births Filipino police chiefs People from Butuan Philippine Military Academy alumni Living people Duterte administration personnel People of the Philippine drug war Philippine Constabulary personnel People from Quezon City