Rody backs purge of Caloocan cops

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte yesterday expressed full support for the relief of 1,200 policemen of the Caloocan City police force.

Duterte referred to the order of National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Oscar Albayalde who ordered the relief and retraining of all the Caloocan policemen on Friday.

Caloocan City Mayor Oscar Malapitan also welcomed Albayalde’s decision to sack the entire police force. 

“We know there are more good cops than bad in the city, but the action of the PNP to relieve the entire police force will definitely lead to a cleansing of their ranks,” he said. 

Albayalde yesterday said the NCRPO is tapping volunteer policemen from other regions to fill the vacancies in the Caloocan City police force.

“For the long term, we will accept police officers from other regions because we will no longer assign the people who were removed, even after their retraining,” Albayalde said.

He added the relieved policemen will undergo retraining for 45 days and will not be assigned back to the Caloocan police.

He said Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa had ordered that the new set of police officers to be deployed in Caloocan are of good moral character.

“The directive is to screen and conduct a background investigation before they are assigned there. We are open for volunteers,” Albayalde told dzBB yesterday.

Albayalde clarified the assignment will be voluntary. Interested applicants would just have to request for “availability” in the area where they are currently assigned, just like normal procedures when a policeman is seeking reassignment.

“That is, if they want to. This is open to anybody who wants to be reassigned. This is just as simple as the usual reassignment process,” Albayalde told The STAR. 

Albayalde stressed though that the screening process would be strict.

Albayalde on Friday ordered the relief of the entire police force in Caloocan except for newly assigned police chief Senior Supt. Jemar Modequillo and Chief Insp. Ilustre Mendoza, deputy chief for administration and investigation.

The order came a day after members of the Caloocan Police Community Precinct 4 raided an elderly woman’s home and reportedly stole money and other valuables in an incident captured on closed circuit television camera. 

The incident happened as the police force is embroiled in the controversial killings of teenagers Kian Loyd delos Santos and Carl Angelo Arnaiz.

Albayalde said operations at the Caloocan police station have not been adversely affected as they have put in “responsible officers there.”

The NCRPO’s regional public safety battalion, a combat-trained unit, temporarily replaced the personnel in Caloocan Police headquarters and seven precincts.

There are about 3,500 policemen in the entire Caloocan Police force that will be affected by the relief order, with 1,200 as the initial batch.

More than 200 policemen from police community precincts 2, 4, and 7 packed their belongings and were dispatched to the NCRPO headquarters at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City on Friday night. 

The 13 Caloocan policemen are facing investigation with the possibility that they would be permanently removed from the service.

Albayalde said a summary hearing would be held for the policemen, apart from the criminal charges they will be facing in court. –Emmanuel Tupas, Rey Galupo, Robertzon Ramirez