Camacho goes on military leave

Public Safety Commissioner Edward C. Camacho this week appointed one of his deputy commissioners to temporarily assume his official duties while he finalizes his release papers from the U.S. Army Service, the DPS confirmed yesterday.

DPS spokesperson Lt. Pete C. Muña disclosed that the commissioner has also gone on military leave while preparing his official exit from active military duty, anticipated at the end of the month.

“We have been informed, the commissioner is on military leave as of the moment because he is still on active duty and has not been released yet from the military.

“He appointed Sandy Tudela, the deputy commissioner for operations, to be the acting commissioner until such time that he’s released from active duty and goes into reserve status. By then, he will be working full time as a commissioner,” Muña told reporters yesterday.

Camacho, during a press conference held earlier this month, revealed that as an active member of the military service, he still cannot accept any form of payment from the Commonwealth government despite his appointment to the cabinet seat.

“I still cannot accept any form of payment from the local government because the Army is paying me. My services are for free so we’re saving money. In these times of austerity, this works out best for everybody,” Camacho had said earlier.

The commissioner hoped he would be released not later than April 30, 2002, noting that his release date has been moved at least five times in the last few months.

Concerns are rife that Camacho’s firm stance on overtime cuts has prompted a certain faction within the DPS to question why he was confirmed to serve as DPS commissioner while under active military duty status.

“I would say, those are rumors we’ve been hearing so far also. But just like the commissioner mentioned before, if you take away some of the luxury privileges that these guys are used to, then there’s going to be some issue about that.

“But I think overtime is not mandatory and it shouldn’t be an issue. The government is obligated to give 80 hours. When it comes to overtime, they should understand that the government is not obligated to make them work overtime and pay them for it,” said Muña.

Amid divided sentiments regarding overtime, Muña assured that it is business as usual at the department.

“We’re still trying to do everything we can to be the world’s finest,” said Muña.