President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. confirmed to Palace reporters he has chosen the next leader of the Philippine National Police (PNP) but declined to reveal his name until he has personally talked to him.

“Well, what will I tell the new PNP chief? The new chief is a very senior officer. He knows the situation,” Marcos said.

Earlier, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla told media that Marcos had already decided on the successor to outgoing Police General Rommel Francisco Marbil, who is set to retire on 7 June.

Marbil was originally supposed to retire in February after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 56 but was extended to serve through the 2025 midterm elections.

Meanwhile, Marcos shared his message to the next PNP chief: “I will actually tell him to carry on with what he is doing because we have very good statistics concerning crime.”

He said the crime rate in Metro Manila had dropped by 23 percent over six months. He cited PNP data showing that from 1 January to 16 May, the crime index fell from 15,156 in 2024 to 11,493 in 2025.

“All crimes are included in the police data. So the police must be doing something right,” he said.

More visible presence

The President recently ordered increased police visibility, especially in convergence areas such as public spaces, commuter stations, shopping malls and other crowded places.

“This is to make people feel safer,” he said.

“Just having a policeman there, a policeman walking around — that’s important. People can shout, and he’ll respond quickly. That’s important to the public,” he added.

He said that while the drop in crime was good, it was not enough for the public to feel safe.

“It’s not enough that crime is down. People need to see the police so they feel safe. That’s why we initiated the Cops on the Beat program,” he said.

Centralized emergency hotline

The President is also aiming for an emergency response time of five minutes. He said this can only be met with a centralized emergency hotline where those in distress can call one number.

“We are trying to centralize emergency calls. Because right now, almost every town and province has its own number,” he said.

“So, we’ll centralize it to make it faster. And you can immediately dispatch the police when there’s a problem or a disturbance.”

He also noted that prank calls make up 70 percent of the current 911 system’s calls, and reducing them is part of the effort to improve the emergency response.