Police Lieutenant General Bernard Banac, whose family hails from the towns of Bilar and Lila in Bohol, has been appointed as the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) Deputy Chief for Administration, the second-highest post in the 230,000-strong police force.
Banac succeeds Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. in the role, following a reshuffle that placed Nartatez as commander of the Area Police Command (APC) in Western Mindanao, a post previously held by Banac.
A member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1992, Banac began his career in the elite Special Action Force (SAF) and served as aide to the interior secretary from 1996 to 1998.
He was named one of the Country’s Outstanding Policemen in Service by the Metrobank Foundation in 2012.
He served as provincial police director in Sorsogon in 2014, chief of Internal Security Operations under the Directorate for Operations, and later as PNP spokesperson and public information chief from 2019 to 2020.
Banac had visited the Bohol Provincial Police Office during the term of then PNP chief Gen. Archie Gamboa, underscoring his continued ties to his home province.
His appointment comes as PNP chief Gen. Nicolas Torre seeks to strengthen leadership ranks in the force amid ongoing national security challenges and police reform programs.