PNP cleansing program purges 584 cops, sanctions over 2K others

MANILA – More than 2,600 police officers have been meted with disciplinary sanctions for administrative offenses and involvement in irregularities as a result of an intensified internal cleansing program of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

In a statement on Friday, PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. said the internal cleansing efforts continued with a greater focus on ridding the organization of undesirable personnel who do not conform to the norms of discipline and proper conduct.

Based on the report of the Directorate for Personnel and Records Management (DPRM), Azurin disclosed that 2,635 errant PNP personnel were meted with penalties this year.

The penalties range from withholding of privileges to dismissal from the service due to administrative cases as a direct result of the violation of PNP rules and regulations, or involvement in criminal activities.

Azurin said this hardline stance of the PNP against breach of discipline and misconduct within the ranks is the most prominent manifestation of its genuine responsiveness and commitment to reform the organization and enable it to absorb further development and modernization.

The figure includes 584 who were dismissed from the service; 164 who were demoted in rank; 1,225 who were suspended; 456 who were reprimanded; 117 who were meted with salary forfeiture; 26 who were restricted to quarters and 69 who were denied privileges.

Further, those dismissed from the service were found administratively liable in 321 AWOL (absence without leave) cases; 42 for drug use; 15 for failure to attend court duty; 20 for violence against women; and others for involvement in criminal cases for murder, homicide, carnapping, illegal drugs, robbery extortion and rape.

“I would like to point out the correlation of organizational reform and individual performance as benchmark factors to the accomplishment of unit mission. Through significant gains in the PNP internal reform program, PNP units fared well in performing our law enforcement and public safety mandate," Azurin said.

Less crimes

The PNP chief also noted an improvement in the national crime environment throughout 2022 compared to the previous year.

He said there was a significant decrease in both index and non-index crime incidents as well as the eight focus crime categories and eight special complex crimes.

Among the eight focus crimes, incidents of carnapping of motor vehicles dropped sharply by 20.51 percent in 2022 while similar double-digit decreases in incidents of murder and homicide were recorded at 11.89 percent and 9.98 percent, respectively.

The PNP units' intensified crime deterrent initiatives paid off as the Peace and Order Indicator (POI) covering the period Jan. 1 to Dec. 26, 2022, generally went down by 12.01 percent or 28,007 from 233,241 in 2021 compared to 205,234 for this year.

“The PNP is doing its best to address all public safety concerns to better improve law enforcement and public safety operations in the coming months. We also recognize that trust between law enforcement and the community is essential for a safe and prosperous society, and we strive to earn and maintain that trust and confidence every day,” Azurin said.

Meanwhile, the Internal Affairs Service (IAS) of the PNP successfully fulfilled its zero backlog policy as it attained an Administrative Case Resolution Efficiency (ACRE) of 100 percent in 2022.

In a separate statement, IAS chief Alfegar Triambulo said as of Dec. 29, 2022, the IAS resolved all 1,581 police administrative cases that it received and had deadlines within the year.

In previous years, the IAS has attained consistently high ACRE, with 62 percent in 2016, 89 percent in 2017, 85 percent in 2018, 99.94 percent in 2019, 99.75 percent in 2020, and 99.65 percent in 2021.

The zero backlog policy was first implemented in 2016 which aims to support the mandate of the IAS as the lead agency in the campaign against all forms of misconduct in the PNP. (PNA)