Possibility of losing police power: Proof needed against Tom

CEBU, Philippines — Even with his criticisms of the police and his taking custody over suspects the police arrested, Mayor Tomas Osmeña cannot be stripped off his supervisory control over the local police easily.

This was clarified by National Police Commission vice chairman and executive officer Rogelio Casurao to reporters yesterday.

In fact, Casurao said, NAPOLCOM would need a formal complaint filed against Osmeña for the agency to open an investigation.

So far, NAPOLCOM has not received any.

“These are adverse reports, but then again, naa ta proseso to go about this. It takes a lot of validation. We don’t want to be biased; we don’t want to pre-empt anything without actual validated evidence. It is easy to say that these are reasons for revocation, but these have to be complemented by actual validation to support that there is really a need to revoke,” Casurao said.

Casurao was in Cebu as guest of honor in the culminating activity of the Crime Prevention Month at Camp Sergio Osmeña.

He added about Osmeña’s case:

“Kaantigo man tanan nga ang usa sa justification for revocation of police authority is your performance as local chief executive, so if you don’t prove to be more effective, you are not helpful anymore in preventing crimes. Together with other causes, ito ang nagiging basis sa revocation,” he said.

On August 24, Osmeña took over custody of three men arrested by cops of the Parian Police Station. The three men were arrested for refilling butane canisters with liquefied petroleum gas.

Osmeña has also been critical of the police – even saying they are coddling suspects of the spate of killings here.

Withdrawal

Under Section 51 of Republic Act 6975 or Powers of Local Government Officials over the Philippine National Police (PNP) units or forces, mayors have operational supervision and control over PNP units respective to their jurisdiction.

The term "operational supervision and control" means the power to direct, superintend, oversee, and inspect the police units and forces.

Under Section 52 of the same law, that operation supervision can be suspended or withdrawn on these grounds - frequent unauthorized absences, abuse of authority, providing material support to criminal elements, and engaging in acts inimical to national security or which negate the effectiveness of the peace and order campaign.

Once a complaint is filed before NAPOLCOM against a local chief executive, the agency’s regional director will evaluate the complaint to determine if it has complied with the pre-requisites.

Assessment

Meanwhile, Casurao said NAPOLCOM is gathering crime statistics from different police units in the region. This will reportedly form part of the basis to gauge the effectiveness of local chief executives, particularly in the fight against criminality.

“This can be used as assessment in reviewing our local government units in their fight against illegal-drugs and criminalities,” he said.

Casurao said he is satisfied” with the anti-criminality efforts of local police amidst public backlash and allegations on the recent spate of killings here.

“Our yardstick would give a premium to the accomplishments of PRO-7. We don’t have any basis to declare a ‘poor’ performance to their part. They have been doing the job very well,” Casurao told reporters.

Also, he said the criticism hurled by Osmeña against the police will not affect NAPOLCOM’s perception of the police force.

“All of this is the opinion of one, and subject to verification and empirical evidence. In saying police are involved, it is common for people to say something, pero hindi naman natin mapapatunayan ito by way of hard and actual evidence,” Casurao said.

He said that based on the guidelines set by NAPOLCOM, PRO-7’s performance is at the premium level, pointing out that PRO-7 is working closely with advisory councils from the national level down to the local level.

“We don’t have any basis to declare a ‘poor’ performance to their part, they have been doing a the job very well, to our standards, the PNP in PRO-7 has been doing very well , especially that they working very closely, with our national advisory group from the national level to the local level,” he said. (FREEMAN)