Reign of PMA class of ’86 ends with Cascolan’s retirement

The rule of Batch ’86 of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) is about to end with Philippine National Police (PNP) outgoing chief General Camilo Pancratius “Pikoy” Cascolan’s retirement.

Cascolan is the last to retire from the PMA Class 1986 as he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 56 on November 10 Tuesday.

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Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque announced Monday that President Rodrigo  named Metro Manila police chief Major General  as the new  PNP chief.

Cascolan said that he has no idea about rumors that he would be appointed as the Bureau of Customs head.

Maj. Gen. Jose Maria Victor Ramos was supposed to be the last man standing for PMA Class 1986. However, he died last in October due to the injuries he suffered from the Laguna helicopter crash.

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“I am happy because I was given the chance and never expected it because it was just two months away from my retirement,” said Cascolan.

Cascolan is the fourth member of PMA Class 1986 to be appointed as PNP chief since the now Senator Ronaldo ‘Bato’ dela Rosa took over at the start of Duterte’s administration.

Reign of PMA class of ’86 ends with Cascolan’s retirement

Oscar Albayalde and then Archie Gamboa followed dela Rosa.

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The PMA Class 1986 took a major role in Duterte’s bloody war on drugs campaign, with Dela Rosa initiating it.

Cascolan was one of the police generals who created Oplan Double Barrel. It consists of two main components: Oplan Tokhang and Oplan High-Value Target (HVT). Tokhang is characterized as the lower barrel approach, while HVT, which stands for high-value targets, is described as the police’s high barrel approach.

The operation was launched in 2016 when President Rodrigo Duterte became the President. Oplan Tokhang was tagged in the killing of several small-time drug pushers.

Meanwhile, the government data showed that a total of 5,903 had been killed since President Rodrigo Duterte launched his administration’s  in 2016.

The records also showed that a total of 178,616 anti-illegal drug operations had been conducted since July 1, 2016. On these operations, 259,296 suspected drug personalities, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) revealed.