W. Visayas has new top cop

By Jennifer P. Rendon

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has appointed Brigadier General Jack Wanky as the new head of the Police Regional Office (PRO) 6.

Wanky’s appointment was formalized in Special Order Number NHQ-SO-URA-2024-1373, issued on February 15, 2023, and endorsed by Major General Belli Tamayo of the PNP Directorate for Personnel Records and Management (DPRM).

Brigadier General Wanky succeeds Brigadier General Sidney Villaflor, who has been reassigned to the PNP Directorate for Human Resource Development Division.

Additionally, the directive details a change for former PRO-6 director Major General Leo Francisco, who will leave his role at the PNP Directorate for Operations to assume leadership of the Directorate for Investigation and Detection Management (DIDM). His position will be filled by Major General Ronald Oliver Lee, the outgoing chief of the DHRDD.

Prior to the announcement, Wanky was widely regarded as the front-runner for the PRO-6 chief position, contending with Brigadier General Rodolfo Castil Jr., Brigadier General Chito Bersaluna, Brigadier General Martin Defensor, Jr, and Roderick Augustus Alba.

A member of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) Class of 1992, Wanky hails from Buguias, Benguet, and is married to an Ilongga.

He departs his role as the director of the Aviation Security Group (AVSeGroup) to take up his new position in Western Visayas.

His career includes tenure as the deputy regional director for operations at the PNP National Capital Region Police Office and as the chief of staff of the Philippine National Police Academy.

Wanky also formerly led the now-defunct Boracay Tourist Police Office and served at the Iloilo City Police Office.